HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's economy expanded by 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2019 year-on-year, slightly slower than the 0.6 percent growth in the preceding quarter, an economist of China's Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Friday.

Andrew Au, an economist of the SAR government, told a press briefing on Friday that the Hong Kong economy continued to face significant downward pressure as economic conditions in the first half of the year were the weakest since the recession in 2009.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, real GDP decreased by 0.4 percent in the second quarter after an expansion of 1.3 percent in the preceding quarter, Au said.

Total exports of goods weakened further to an enlarged year-on-year decline of 5.6 percent in real terms in the second quarter, with a particularly sharp fall in June.

Domestic demand remained sluggish. Private consumption expenditure only grew modestly by 1.1 percent year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter as consumer sentiment stayed cautious in the face of various headwinds and the weakened economic outlook.

Au said, taking into account the much worse-than-expected actual outturn of 0.5-percent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2019, and considering the substantial downside risks, the real GDP growth forecast for the year as a whole is revised downwards from 2 to 3 percent in the May round of review to 0 to 1 percent in the current round.

The SAR government will continue to closely monitor developments on both the external and local fronts, and their implications for the local economy and employment.