Hong Kong crashes into recession as protests hit economy

A riot police officer holds a banner as protesters attend an anti-government rally in Hong Kong, China October 30, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s economy contracted sharply in the third quarter as it entered a recession, exceeding economists’ worst estimates of the damage from nearly five months of protests.

Third-quarter gross domestic product retreated 3.2% from the previous three months, after a 0.4% contraction in the second quarter. That’s the worst slump since 2009, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Two consecutive periods of negative growth mean Hong Kong has fallen into a technical recession.