XN000022-1996-08-27 — Page 6

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On the other hand, sales of jewellery, watches and clocks and valuable gifts registered 1% increase in value but 2% decline in volume.

Sales of fuels decreased by 6% in value and 13% in volume. This drop in sales of fuels sold in retail outlets was due to a change in consumption preference, as patronage of fuel gas distributed through systems of mains became increasingly popular.

Compared with May 1996 (but bearing in mind that this comparison is affected by seasonal factors), total retail sales in June 1996 decreased by 2% in both value and volume.

Comparing the period from January to June 1996 with the same period in 1995, total retail sales rose by 5% in value and 0.4% in volume. This represented an improvement from the decline of about 1% in volume in 1995.

The volume of retail sales is derived from the value of retail sales after adjusting for price changes. The relevant components of the consumer price index are used as deflators.

Table 1 presents the revised total retail sales figure for May 1996 and the provisional figure for June 1996.

Table 2 shows the value and volume indices of retail sales in June 1995, May 1996 and June 1996 for all retail outlets and by type of retail outlets, with average retail sales from October 1994 to September 1995 taken as 100.

Comparisons of the June 1996 results with those for May 1996 and those for June 1995, as well as comparison of retail sales in the period from January to June of 1996 with the same period in 1995 are also given.

The report containing the analysis of the June 1996 results is now on sale at $4 per copy at the Government Publications Centre, Queensway Government Offices, ground floor, Low Block, 66 Queensway; and the Publications Unit of the Census and Statistics Department, 19th floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai.

Enquiries about the survey results may be directed to the Wholesale and Retail Trade Statistics Section of the Census and Statistics Department, Tel 2802 1258.