HONG KONG — New data has confirmed that months of anti-government protests have tipped the economy of Hong Kong, already under pressure from China’s slowdown and its trade conflict with the U.S., into recession.
The city’s economy shrank 3.2% in the July-September period compared with the quarter before, according to figures from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department on Thursday. This marked a stark deterioration from the second quarter’s 0.4% decline in gross domestic product and puts the city officially in recession for the first time in a decade
“The increasingly violent reality since June is hurting Hong Kong’s economy,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a speech on Wednesday, a day after noting that output for the year is also likely to contract.
