HONG KONG, Feb 2, 2009 (AFP) - Christmas shoppers and tourists in Hong Kong defied the economic gloom, boosting December retail sales by 0.8 percent year-on-year, government figures showed Monday.

Retail sales in December were worth 25.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (3.2 billion US), the Census and Statistics Bueau said in a statement.

The rise compared with a 1.2 percent jump in November, and a 0.3 percent year-on-year increase in October.

Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had predicted a decrease of 3.5 percent.

After netting out the effect of price changes, the volume of retail sales dropped by 0.7 percent in December 2008 compared to a year earlier, the figures showed.

Consumer durable goods, electronic goods and fuels all performed well, despite the global downturn which saw Hong Kong slip into recession in the third quarter.

However, sales of cars and other motor vehicles dropped by 22 percent year-on-year in December, while sales of jewellery, watches and clocks were also hit hard, the figures showed.

For 2008 as a whole, total retail sales increased by 10.5 percent in value or 5.0 percent in volume over 2007.

A government spokesman said visitors to Hong Kong and solid spending by residents had helped boost the figures, but warned it remained a tough environment.

"The near-term prospect of the retail business will continue to be overshadowed by the global economic downturn," the spokesman said in a statement.