Hong Kong Exports Continue To Fall In September

(RTTNews) - Hong Kong's exports and imports continued to decline in September, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed on Tuesday.

Exports declined 9.1 percent year-over-year in September, slower than the 14.3 percent fall in August. This was the fifth successive monthly decline.

The downward trend in exports was largely driven by a marked fall in outflow of office machines and automatic data processing machines, non-ferrous metals, and miscellaneous manufactured articles.

Imports also decreased 7.8 percent annually in September, after falling 16.3 percent in the previous month.

The trade deficit widened to HK$44.920 billion in September from HK$42.391 billion in the corresponding month last year. In August, there was a shortfall of HK$13.264 billion.

"The value of merchandise exports continued to fall sharply amid the deteriorating external environment and continued disruptions to cross-boundary land transportation," a government spokesman said.

"Looking forward, Hong Kong's export performance will remain under immense pressure, as elevated inflation in major advanced economies and more aggressive monetary policy tightening in response continue to dampen global demand."