Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that a total of 15,551 wholesale & retail establishments, market stalls and fixed street stalls were operating in 2018, an increase of 494 year-on-year. Total number of persons engaged rose by 2.1% to 71,030, with employees accounting for 82.3% of the total. Receipts of Wholesale & Retail Trade amounted to MOP 129.42 billion, up by 6.0% year-on-year. Expenditure grew by 7.9% to MOP 117.51 billion, of which Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid, Compensation of Employees and Operating Expenses recorded respective growth of 9.5%, 6.2% and 1.9%. Gross Surplus totalled MOP 14.07 billion, up by 16.3% year-on-year. Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy went up by 11.6% to MOP 25.13 billion, and Gross Fixed Capital Formation rose by 6.0% to MOP 2.06 billion.
Wholesale establishments totalled 5,572, up by 111 year-on-year. Receipts of Wholesale Trade decreased by 4.1% to MOP 42.93 billion, mainly dragged by a 52.8% decline in the receipts of Wholesale of Fuels; meanwhile, receipts of Wholesale of Food, Beverages & Tobacco grew by 10.4% and Wholesale of Other Consumer Goods such as household appliances, medicines and hygiene products expanded by 23.3%. Expenditure of Wholesale Trade amounted to MOP 38.57 billion, a decrease of 3.5% year-on-year, with Operating Expenses (MOP 3.6 billion) and Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP32.00 billion) falling by 4.6% and 3.9% respectively, besides, Compensation of Employees (MOP 2.97 billion) rose by 2.7%. Gross Surplus dropped by 10.2% to MOP 4.22 billion. Gross Value Added and Gross Fixed Capital Formation amounted to MOP 7.19 billion and MOP 399 million respectively, down by 5.3% and 28.0%.
Retail establishments increased by 371 year-on-year to 7,384. Benefiting from the growth in visitor arrivals, receipts of Retail Trade rose by 12.2% year-on-year to MOP 78.80 billion in 2018. Receipts of establishments engaging in Sales of Goods in Department Stores, Leather Goods and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery showed respective growth of 23.9%, 21.1% and 9.7%. Expenditure of Retail Trade went up by 14.7% year-on-year to MOP 71.89 billion, with Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 49.92 billion), Compensation of Employees (MOP 7.44 billion) and Operating Expenses (MOP 14.53 billion) rising by 19.2%, 8.6% and 4.2% respectively. Gross Surplus and Gross Value Added totalled MOP 9.11 billion and MOP 16.55 billion respectively, up significantly by 36.1% and 22.2% year-on-year. Besides, Gross Fixed Capital Formation went up by 17.6% to MOP 1.60 billion owing to an increased number of major refurbishments in establishments.
There were 1,026 establishments operating in Sales of Motor Vehicles & Automotive Fuel, an increase of 19 year-on-year. Receipts of the industry expanded by 9.8% year-on-year to MOP 6.01 billion. Expenditure rose by 12.4% to MOP 5.65 billion, of which Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 4.53 billion) grew by 18.3% whereas Operating Expenses (MOP 522 million) and Compensation of Employees (MOP 599 million) fell by 8.3% and 4.9% respectively. Gross Surplus of the industry went up by 15.6% to MOP 456 million, underpinned by the respective growth in Gross Surplus of establishments engaging in Maintenance & Repair of Motor Vehicles (+29.1%) and in Sales of Motor Vehicles (+23.8%). Gross Value Added of the industry totalled MOP 1.06 billion, up by 3.0% year-on-year. Gross Fixed Capital Formation leapt by 98.6% to MOP 64.02 million, which was fuelled by the refurbishments of some establishments and addition of equipment at gas stations.
Number of market stalls and fixed stalls on the street totalled 1,569. Receipts and expenditure of these stalls amounted to MOP 1.68 billion and MOP 1.40 billion respectively, up by 5.0% and 8.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Gross Surplus dropped by 9.3% year-on-year to MOP 286 million and Gross Value Added fell by 7.4% to MOP 337 million.