Hong Kong trade volumes jumped in the first quarter of 2021 as the value of both exports and imports increased, government data released Tuesday showed.
Last month, exports from the special administrative region jumped 26.4% compared with March 2020 while imports rose 21.7% to $436.1 billion, in part due to a strong pandemic-induced base effect.
The coronavirus hit the Greater China region hardest in early 2021, hampering trade and economic activity as private and public resources were funneled into COVID-19 relief efforts in the mainland.
Hong Kong trade suffered immensely with total exports and imports of goods decreasing 7.4% and 12.3% respectively in May 2020. Since then, trade in the city has been on the up and up.
In February exports and imports increased 30.4% and 17.6% year on year respectively, while the value of goods in either sector increased by 33.2% and 25.6% respectively in the first quarter as a whole.
Hong Kong reported a $27 billion trade deficit in March, roughly equivalent to 6.2% of the value of goods imported that month.
“The value of merchandise exports continued to grow strongly on a year-on-year basis in March on the back of a sharp rebound in global demand,” a Hong Kong government representative said.
“The global economic recovery led by the Mainland and the US should continue to support Hong Kong's export performance in the period ahead,” the representative said, but noted possible areas of tension between the two superpowers.
“However, the pandemic development and other risk factors such as China-US relations and geopolitical tensions warrant attention.”
The value of total goods exported in the first quarter increased 19.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared with the quarter before, while the total value of imports rose 13.8%.
Major destinations saw the largest increase in exports from Hong Kong in the first quarter. The value of goods being sent to the United Kingdom rose 130% year on year, while the value of items being imported by Taiwan grew 49.1%.
