Business climate survey on restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade for October 2016

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that 26% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year increase in receipts in October 2016, up by 5 percentage points from September, driven by an increase in visitors during the National Day holidays. Among them, 49% of the Chinese Restaurants and 13% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants recorded growth, up by 20 and 6 percentage points respectively from September. Meanwhile, 51% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year decline in receipts, down by 12 percentage points from the previous month, with the corresponding proportions of Western Restaurants, Chinese Restaurants and Japanese & Korean Restaurants decreasing by 26, 16 and 6 percentage points respectively from the previous month. As regards retail trade, 35% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year growth in sales in October, down by 5 percentage points from September. Meanwhile, the proportion of retailers that recorded a year-on-year decrease in sales rose slightly by 1 percentage point to 58%. Analysed by industry, all of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers, 53% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, 50% of the Adults' Clothing Retailers and 44% of the Supermarkets recorded a year-on-year increase in sales; concurrently, only 22% of the Department Stores reported growth, down by 33 percentage points from September. On the other hand, all of the interviewed Motor Vehicle Retailers, 78% of the Department Stores and 60% of the Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers registered a year-on-year decline in sales. With respect to business prospects in November, the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expected no significant change in their business, with 19% anticipating a year-on-year growth in receipts, similar to that of the previous month. Meanwhile, 43% of the restaurants & similar establishments expected a year-on-year decrease in receipts, up slightly by 1 percentage point from the preceding month. Among the various types of restaurants, 25% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants forecasted a year-on-year rise in receipts in November, up nearly by 13 percentage points from the preceding month, while 69% anticipated a year-on-year decrease, same as in the previous month. Retailers were still cautious about their business prospects in November. The proportion of retailers that anticipated a year-on-year growth in sales rose by 1 percentage point from the previous month to 24%, with 60% of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers expecting an increase. On the other hand, 45% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in sales in November, down by 7 percentage points from the preceding month, with all of the Motor Vehicle Retailers and 50% of the Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers forecasting a decline. The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results reflect only the business performance and the expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers, where no extrapolation of results has been conducted.