Hong Kong Riots: Impact on Hong Kong's economy

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The ongoing unrest in Hong Kong has had an impact on its economy. Our reporter Xi Jia speaks to IG Group's senior market analyst, to find out how severe it has been.

Hong Kong is traditionally one of the most popular destinations for travelers and shoppers. But months of demonstrations have taken a growing toll on Hong Kong's tourist industry and its economy.

CHRIS BEAUCHAMP CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, IG "I think we are beginning to see the serious impact now. I think it will begin to show up in the GDP figures further down the line and I think we should be concerned about that. The fact that the protests are broadening out in HK's airport as well should worry the authority in HK certainly broadly."

The consumer and retail sector is expected to drop at least 10% in 2019 as the instability affects consumer confidence. Some hotels and shops are shutting down in response to the protests, and others are opening for reduced hours.

CHRIS BEAUCHAMP CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, IG "I think this is one way you see the biggest impact as a result you see potentially shops closing for longer periods. You could see job losses and that begins to feed through to wage figures, employment numbers further down the line. I think this is the big impact you see certainly on the ground for the HK economy."

Chris says the protests could lead to a more general period of weakness for the economies of East Asia, which will have a wider impact on the world economy.

CHRIS BEAUCHAMP CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, IG "This is beginning really to magnify into something that just moves far beyond the impact of protests on the domestic economy and you're seeing the international situation beginning to weigh on HK as well."

XI JIA LONDON "Some analysts say the financial impact is hard to calculate at the moment, but if it continues for the next few months, with this snowball effect, the outcome will be significant. XI JIA, CGTN, LONDON."