Hong Kong retail sales fell for 11th straight month in Dec as protests hurt

Hong Kong's retail sales fell 19.4 per cent in December from a year earlier, weighed down by anti-government demonstrations, now in their eighth month, as protesters roamed through shopping malls and clashed with police over the festive period.

For the whole of 2019, sales fell 11.1 per cent from a year earlier to Hong Kong dollar 431.2 billion.

For the month of December, sales fell to HK$36.2 billion ($4.66 billion), government data showed on Tuesday, the 11th consecutive month of decline. November's drop was a revised 23.7 per cent

In volume terms, retail sales in December fell 21.0 per cent, compared with a revised 25.5 per cent drop in November.

($1 = 7.7682 Hong Kong dollars)