Hong Kong was officially in recession in the first half of 2001, according to revised GDP (gross domestic product) figures released by the government.

The revised (seasonally adjusted) figures show the economy shrank by 0.5% in the first quarter of last year compared with the same quarter in 2000. This contrasts with the preliminary figures which had instead shown growth of 0.3% for the first quarter.

The news means that the economy entered recession (defined as two quarters of negative growth) long before the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US were felt by the Hong Kong economy. On a year-on-year basis GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2001 fell 1.6% following a 0.4% drop in the third quarter, revised down by the Government from its preliminary minus 0.3% figure yesterday.

Despite the negative growth, the figures beat economists’ expectations with many expecting a contraction in the fourth quarter of last year of around 3%.