Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department announced Tuesday the value of total retail sales in December 2010 rose 18.5 percent to 34.9 billion HK dollars from same month last year.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales grew 15.9 percent in December 2010 over a year earlier.

For 2010 as a whole, total retail sales rose 18.3 percent in value or 15.5 percent in volume over 2009.

A government spokesman said the strong growth momentum in retail sales in 2010 was boosted by the economic upturn and notable growth in visitor arrivals throughout the year.

The near-term outlook of the retail business should remain favorable, in view of the vibrant inbound tourism and the firm local consumer sentiment upon the much improved job and income prospects, the spokesman said.