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In the private sector, a smaller decline of 2.3% was recorded in the first quarter, compared with a decline of around 8% in 1995.
Taken together, overall expenditure on construction returned to a growth of 4.6% in the first quarter, having been on a decline in the preceding two quarters. Expenditure on machinery and equipment remained robust, registering an increase of 16.8% in the first quarter.
Government consumption expenditure increased by 3.8% in real terms in the first quarter of 1996 over a year earlier.
The implicit price deflator of GDP, as a broad measure of overall inflation in the economy, rose by 6.3% in the first quarter of 1996 over a year earlier.
Along with the release of the preliminary GDP estimates for the first quarter of 1996, GDP estimates for 1994 and 1995 have been revised, taking into account latest data sources, including the results of the 1994 annual economic surveys and the 1995 Survey of Re-export Trade. The real growth rate of GDP is revised from 5.5% to 5.3% for 1994, and from 4.6% to 4.7% for 1995.
revised,
Production-based GDP estimates for 1994 by economic activity have also been
Based on the latest estimates, financing, insurance, real estate and business services accounted for the largest share of GDP (26.7%), followed by wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels (26.2%), and community, social and personal services (15.8%).
Summaries of the latest expenditure-based GDP figures are presented in tables 1 and 2. The revised production-based GDP figures for 1994 are presented in table 3.
More detailed annual and quarterly estimates of GDP are published in a report - Quarterly Report of Gross Domestic Product Estimates First Quarter 1996. This issue of the report is a new edition with enhanced contents and longer data series.
This bilingual report is now on sale at $14 per copy at the Government Publications Centre, Queensway Government Offices, Low Block, ground floor, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong; and at the Publications Unit of the Census and Statistics Department, 19th floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
Telephone enquiries may be directed to the National Income Branch (1) of the Census and Statistics Department on 2582 5077.