Hong Kong’s economy recorded its worst quarter in more than two years as weak demand and pandemic isolation battered the financial hub and increased the likelihood the city will end the year in contraction for the third time since 2019.
Gross domestic product plunged 4.5% in the July-to-September period from a year earlier, according to advance estimates released by the government on Monday. That was far weaker than economists’ forecasts for a 0.8% decline, and worse than the second quarter’s 1.3% fall.