The value of goods exported from Hong Kong fell sharply in January compared to a year earlier, official figures showed Thursday, as Europe's debt woes played havoc with global markets.
The value of total exports from the southern Chinese trading hub dropped 8.6 percent from a year earlier to HK$259.3 billion ($33.43 billion), after a rise of 7.4 percent in December, the statistics office said.
"Apart from destinations in Asia, decreases were also registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations in other regions, in particular Germany (-8.6%) and the USA (-4.0%)," it said in a statement.
The value of imports fell 10.5 percent from a year earlier to HK$268.2 billion, compared to a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent in December.
The trade deficit stood at HK$8.9 billion in January.
A government spokesman said Hong Kong's export outlook "remains bleak in the near term, as the evolving eurozone debt crisis continues to plague the global economic outlook".
Financial Secretary John Tsang warned earlier this month that Hong Kong's economy could shrink in the first quarter of 2012 due to weak export markets, before rebounding to post growth of 1.0-3.0 percent over the year.
The city's economy contracted in the second quarter of 2011 before returning to positive territory in the third quarter.
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