Hong Kong reaches full year of economic recession

Contraction looks set to exceed record set in Asian financial crisis

The restaurant sector has been one of Hong Kong's worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. From Wednesday, restaurants are barred from serving dine-in customers for one week as the city battles its worst COVID-19 outbreak. Tsui Wah and other chains have already closed outlets around the city. © AP

MICHELLE CHAN, Nikkei staff writer

July 29, 2020 20:30 JST

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong appears on track to match or top its longest recession on record after output dropped for a fourth straight quarter in the April-June period.

The economy shrank 9% for the quarter compared with a year before, according to an advance government reading, missing the 8% consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet and extending a downturn that started last July when anti-government protests heated up in the city.