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Feb tourist arrivals soar 557 times y/y vs Jan's 70 times
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Feb jewellery, watch sales up 129% y/y vs Jan's 22.5%
growth
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Government sees retail to benefit from inbound tourism
HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's retail sales
posted the biggest percentage rise in 13 years in February as
economic sentiment improved alongside a sharp rebound in visitor
arrivals and low figures in the year-earlier period, government
data showed on Friday.
February retail sales grew 31.3% from a year earlier in
value terms to stand at HK$33.1 billion ($4.22 billion), the
biggest percentage growth for a month since February 2010 when
it grew 35.8%.
That also compared with HK$36.2 billion in January, when
retail sales were revised to an increase of 6.9% from a year
earlier.
Strict COVID-19 restrictions have weighed on Hong Kong's
economy since early 2020, grinding tourism to a halt and
battering sales at bars, restaurants and shops.
All border checkpoints were reopened fully in early February
while the city dropped its COVID-19 mask mandate from March 1 in
a move to lure back visitors and restore normal life more than
three years after stringent rules were first imposed in the
financial hub.
The government also launched a promotional campaign earlier
this month called "Hello Hong Kong" to bring back tourists and
businesses.
"The retail sector performance will continue to benefit from
the recovery of private consumption and inbound tourism," a
government spokesperson said.
In volume terms, retail sales in February increased 29.6%
from a year earlier. That compared with 5.1% growth in January.
It was the biggest growth since February 2021, when it was 31%.
Hong Kong has been battered by its own pandemic measures and
spillover from China's zero-COVID policies, but recovering
consumer spending on the mainland and a rebound in travel are
expected to help the city's economy this year.
The Asian financial hub's economy is expected to grow
3.5%-5.5% this year after shrinking 3.5% in 2022.
Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong in February soared nearly 557
times from a year earlier to 1.46 million, exceeding one million
for the first time in three years. That compared with 2,626
visitors in February 2021 and about 70 times growth in January
to 498,689.
Among the arrivals, mainland visitors jumped to about
1.11 million in February from 280,525 in January, while
non-mainland visitors rose to 353,316 in February from 218,164
in January, Hong Kong Tourism Board's data showed.
The city's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate eased
to 3.3% in the December to February period, from 3.4% in the
November to January period.
In February, sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and
valuable gifts, which before the pandemic were mostly to
tourists from mainland China, jumped 128.6% from a year earlier,
following 22.5% growth in January, data showed.
Benefiting from the travel relaxation measures, jewellery chain operators
Chow Tai Fook said its same store sales growth for Hong Kong and Macau increased 70% on year for January-February, while
Chow Sang Sang's sales in the two cities were up about 89% for the
period from Jan 1 to March 15.
Sales of clothing, footwear and accessories in February grew 104.1% on the year after a 15.6% increase in January. Online retail sales in February decreased 4.1% year-on-year in value terms, compared with a 3.4% drop in January. ($1 = 7.8499 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))