Hong Kong recession deepens, Q4 GDP shrinks 0.4% q/q

The Hong Kong economy's first recession in a decade deepened in the fourth quarter of last year weighed down by often violent anti-government protests and the U.S.-China trade war, advanced estimates showed on Monday. The economy shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October-December from the previous quarter, versus a revised 3.0% in July-September. On an annual basis, the economy contracted 2.9%, compared with a revised 2.8% in the third quarter.

For the whole of 2019, real gross domestic product contracted by 1.2%, the first annual decline since 2009. Months of unrest in Hong Kong last year plunged the financial and trading hub into its worst crisis since it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Analysts predict an even worse first quarter in 2020, as measures to restrict cross-border mobility to fight the spread of a new coronavirus which originated in mainland China deal a further blow to tourism, retail, and other business.

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