Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 64% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reporting a year-on-year rise in receipts in July 2021, a growth of 10 percentage points from June; the corresponding proportions of Western Restaurants (62%) and Chinese Restaurants (75%) rose by 15 percentage points and 12 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers recording a year-on-year sales rise in July (82%) went up by 1 percentage point over the preceding month. All of the interviewed retailers of Leather Goods and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery continued to register a year-on-year sales increase. Besides, the corresponding share of Adults’ Clothing Retailers (90%) grew by 14 percentage points from June, while the share of Motor Vehicle Retailers (30%) dropped by 16 percentage points. For the Business Performance Index (BPI) that reflects the trend of year-on-year changes in business receipts, the values for restaurants & similar establishments (72.0) and retail trade (85.4) were both higher than 50, implying that the business of these two industries in July fared better compared to the same month last year.
As regards the business expectations for August, the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers were less optimistic about the business outlook owing to the local confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in early August. The proportion of interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting a month-on-month decrease in their receipts expanded by 52 percentage points from July to 74%, with the corresponding shares of Chinese Restaurants (78%), Western Restaurants (81%) and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (70%) rising by 62 percentage points, 46 percentage points and 43 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 56% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales decrease in August, a growth of 42 percentage points from the preceding month. The corresponding proportions of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (83%) and Department Stores (75%) surged by 78 percentage points and 67 percentage points respectively. Moreover, 89% of the interviewed Supermarkets expected a month-on-month sales rise or steady performance in August, an increase of 56 percentage points from July. 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 (15.8) and retail trade (29.8), indicating that the respondents from both industries predicted a less favourable business outlook in August than in July.
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.