Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 6.8% month-on-month in October 2024 on account of the National Day holidays. Receipts of Chinese Restaurants and Western Restaurants rose by 10.6% and 8.6% respectively from the previous month, while receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants decreased by 1%. In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers increased by 28.6% month-on-month in October. All types of interviewed retailers registered sales growth, with a notable uplift in the sales of retailers of Adults' Clothing (+45.6%), Leather Goods (+39.5%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (+32.6%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles (+30%).
In comparison with October 2023, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dipped by 1.8% in October this year; receipts of Chinese Restaurants dropped by 5.8%, while receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants grew by 9.4%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers slipped by 13.3% year-on-year in October; sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Department Stores and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers fell by 25.1%, 16.9% and 12.3% respectively, while sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers surged by 41.4%.
As regards the business expectations for November, the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers generally considered that consumer sentiment would ease after the National Day holidays. There were 49% of the interviewed establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month in November, and the corresponding shares for Chinese Restaurants and Western Restaurants were 66% and 48% respectively. On the other hand, about 8% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in November. For retail trade, 42% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales drop in November, with the corresponding shares for Leather Goods Retailers (63%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (52%) and Department Stores (50%) being relatively high. By contrast, around 22% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales growth in November, and the corresponding proportions for Motor Vehicle Retailers and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers reached 64% and 40% respectively.
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 (29.2) and retail trade (39.8), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in November compared to October.
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. As a panel sample of establishments is used in this Survey, the changes in receipts in the reference month as compared to the month of comparison serve as reference indicators of the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers. 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 reference month, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.