Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments surged by 78.4% year-on-year in August 2023. All types of interviewed establishments registered a year-on-year rise in receipts, with Western Restaurants reporting a notable increase (+142.6%); receipts of Chinese Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops swelled by 97.8% and 56.7% respectively. In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers leapt by 71.2% year-on-year in August; Department Stores (+135.7%), Adults' Clothing Retailers (+113.8%), Leather Goods Retailers (+96.7%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+94.9%) posted significant growth in sales, whereas Motor Vehicle Retailers (-29.7%) recorded a sales decrease.
In comparison with July, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 1.0% in August, with receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants falling by 6.2%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers grew by 2.8% month-on-month in August; Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Department Stores and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers reported respective sales growth of 12.6%, 6.5% and 5.2%, while sales of Leather Goods Retailers and Adults' Clothing Retailers dropped by 4.3% and 4.2% respectively.
As regards the business expectations for September, there were 59% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month after the summer holiday, and the corresponding shares for Western Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants reached 73% and 69% respectively. On the other hand, about 13% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in September. For retail trade, 36% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales drop in September, and the corresponding proportions for Department Stores, Leather Goods Retailers and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers were 42%, 40% and 39% respectively. By contrast, around 18% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales rise in September.
The Business Outlook Index (BOI) that reflects the trend of month-on-month changes in receipts anticipated by the interviewed establishments was lower than 50 for both restaurants & similar establishments (26.5) and retail trade (40.9), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in September compared to August.
The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade comprises 229 restaurants & similar establishments and 161 retailers, which accounted for 53.5% and 70.6% of the respective industry’s receipts in 2019. The Survey results were not extrapolated. The business performance in the reference month is reflected by the change in the receipts of the sampled establishments and retailers in the reference month as against the month of comparison. The value of the BOI ranges between 0 and 100; an index value above 50 implies that the industry has higher business expectations for the coming month as against the month of comparison, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.