Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 54% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reporting a year-on-year rise in receipts in June 2021, a drop of 4 percentage points from May; the corresponding proportion of Chinese Restaurants (63%) fell by 7 percentage points, while the share of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (39%) rose by 12 percentage points. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers recording a year-on-year sales rise in June (81%) went up by 4 percentage points over the preceding month. All of the interviewed retailers of Leather Goods and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery registered a year-on-year sales increase as in May. Besides, the corresponding shares of Supermarkets (33%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (80%) grew by 11 percentage points and 10 percentage points from May respectively, whereas the share of Adults’ Clothing Retailers (76%) dropped by 14 percentage points. The Business Performance Index (BPI) values that reflect the trend of year-on-year changes in receipts of restaurants & similar establishments (63.6) and retail trade (83.6) were both higher than 50, implying that the business of these two industries in June fared better compared to the same month last year.
As regards the business expectations for July, there were 50% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to increase month-on-month, a growth of 34 percentage points from June; the corresponding shares of Chinese Restaurants (65%) and Western Restaurants (46%) rose by 56 percentage points and 42 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 62% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales rise in July, a growth of 40 percentage points from the preceding month. The corresponding proportion of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (87%) leapt by 74 percentage points, and the shares of Department Stores (67%) and Leather Goods Retailers (80%) surged by 42 percentage points and 40 percentage points respectively; on the other hand, the proportion of Supermarkets (11%) fell by 33 percentage points. The Business Outlook Index (BOI) that reflects the trend of month-on-month changes in receipts anticipated by the interviewed establishments was higher than 50 for both restaurants & similar establishments (63.8) and retail trade (74.2), indicating that the respondents from both industries predicted a better business outlook in July than in June.
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 values of the BPI and the BOI range between 0 and 100; an index value above 50 implies that the industry has better business performance in the reference month or higher business expectations for the coming month as against the month of comparison, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite. The Survey results were not extrapolated and only reflect the assessment of the business performance and expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers.