Total retail sales in September were HK$21.4 billion (US$2.8 billion), the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement.

The latest figures come two weeks after the agency said Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell in the July to September period, the first decline since the start of the global economic crisis in August 2008. Meanwhile, fuel sales led September's increase with an 11.6 percent rise, the agency said. Sales of consumer durable goods such as appliances, along with watches and jewelry, food, tobacco and electrical goods, rose between 2.3 percent and 8.3 percent, the agency said.

Motor vehicle and parts sales fell the most at 7.8 percent, followed by furniture and apparel, which dropped between 1.3 percent and 5.6 percent.