A slump in exports has caused cargo volumes at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to register its first year-on-year fall for over a year.

Cargo volumes were down 2.5 per cent in March to 422,000 tonnes, with imports rising 5.6 per cent to 163,000 tonnes not being able to make up for exports falling 7.1 per cent to 259,000 tonnes.

The most significant drops in exports among key trading regions were to South Korea and Europe.

Since April 2017 cargo volumes have increased 7.5 per cent to 4.98 million tonnes, with exports up 9.6 per cent to 3.24 million tonnes and imports increasing 3.9 per cent to 1.74 million tonnes.

In the first three months of 2018, cargo volumes have increased 4.2 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes.

HKIA handled five million tonnes for the first time in 2017, with 4.94 million tonnes of cargo added to 112,000 tonnes of airmail pushing it past the barrier.