This February 28, 2022 aerial photo shows the container terminal at Tsing Yi in Hong Kong. The total goods export value of Hong Kong fell to HK $371.9 billion US $47.37 billion in August, down 14.3 percent compared to the same month last year, the Census and Statistics Department said Monday.
The value of imports of goods decreased 16.3 percent to HK $385.1 billion for the same period. A visible trade deficit of HK $13.3 billion, equivalent to 3.4 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in August.
The total value of Hong Kong's goods fell by 2.9 percent over the same period in 2021, while the value of imports of goods decreased by 2.1 percent for the first eight months of 2022 as a whole.
A visible trade deficit of HK $248.7 billion, equivalent to 7.5 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first eight months of the year.
A Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government spokesman said that the value of merchandise exports saw a widened decline from a year earlier in August due to the worsened external environment and continued disruptions to cross-boundary land transportation.
Exports to the Chinese mainland, the United States and the European Union continued to fall, while those to other major Asian markets recorded mixed performances, he said.
The spokesman said that Hong Kong's export performance would be under immense pressure due to the deteriorating external environment.
There are increased inflation in major advanced economies and aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks in response to global demand while heightened geopolitical tensions and supply-chain disruptions add to the uncertainty. He said that the HKSAR government will monitor the situation closely.
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