Hong Kong's imports slump by a quarter during 2020 as Covid-related border closures and social unrest take their toll
Hong Kong’s wine imports slumped by nearly a quarter in value during the first nine months of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic and border closures caused more pain for the sector.
According to data from the Hong Kong government, wine imports dropped by 23.2% in value to HK$5.1bn, while its volume nosedived to 35.49m litres, a year on year decline of 20.9%.
As a fine wine trading hub Hong Kong also saw its re-exports dramatically decline largely because of border closures since the beginning of the pandemic. Wine re-exports between January and September 2020 amounted to a mere HK$600m, about 11% of Hong Kong’s total import value. This is a further drop from 2019’s 17.1% and the peak of 44% in 2015.
Border closures to contain the spread of Covid-19 from mainland China meant that cross border wine trade practically ground to a halt, while faster customs clearance and preferenetial treatment at more Chinese ports meant that more wineries and producers could enter China directly.
Hong Kong’s declining re-export business is also a reflection of weakening demand from mainland China, due to the pandemic, a slower economy and trade wars.
This all came in the wake of months of protests in 2019 which deterred many mainland tourists who would normally visit Hong Kong, with visitors dropping by over 40% in the second half of the year according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. The value of imports dropped by 26.4%, and 19.6% in volume compared to the previous year