HONG KONG retail sales fell for the 13th successive month in March, as a fall in visitors and weak local consumption deepened the pain for retailers in Asia’s shopping hub.

    Retail sales in March slid 9.8 percent from a year earlier to HK$34.7 billion (US$4.5 billion) in value terms, less than a 20.6 percent slump in February -- its worst since 1999. In volume terms, March sales dropped 8.8 percent, government data showed late Thursday.

    “The slowdown in inbound tourism continued to pose a severe drag, and the uncertain economic outlook and asset market consolidation had conceivably also hurt local consumption sentiment,” the government said in a statement.

    For the first quarter of 2016, total retail sales value fell 12.5 percent from a year earlier, and was down 11.3 percent in volume terms.

    Hong Kong is confronting mounting economic challenges from the prospect of rising U.S. interest rates, which pressures capital outflows, and from China’s economic slowdown.

    “Looking ahead, the near-term outlook for retail sales will continue to depend on the performance of inbound tourism,” the government added.

    Hong Kong tourist arrivals, which dropped 20.5 percent in February, slid 4.3 percent from a year ago to 4.21 million in March. Mainland visitors, which accounted for 72 percent of the total, fell 6.9 percent to 3.02 million.

    March sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and valuable gifts fell 20.3 percent in value terms, a 19th consecutive month of decline.

    Department store sales slid 5.4 percent year on year, against a 12.3 percent drop the previous month. Wearing apparel fell 11 percent while medicines and cosmetics increased 1.5 percent.

    A string of retailers from fashion to jewelry firms have posted grim performance figures hit by declining mainland tourists and weak consumer sentiment.

    Casual wear chain Giordano International Ltd.’s sales fell 10 percent year on year in value terms for the January-March quarter, while China’s top jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Group posted a 26 percent fall in its Hong Kong same-store sales for the quarter ended in March.

    MasterCard’s MasterCard Advisors said its retail sales in Hong Kong contracted 11.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on a fall in mainland tourists spending.(SD-Agencies)