Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers improved in November 2021 as compared to October. There were 27% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reporting a year-on-year rise in receipts in November, a growth of 15 percentage points from October; the corresponding proportions of Chinese Restaurants (31%) and Western Restaurants (27%) rose by 22 percentage points and 19 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers recording a year-on-year sales rise in November grew by 20 percentage points over the preceding month to 37%. The corresponding proportions of Leather Goods Retailers (40%), Department Stores (42%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (36%) expanded by 40 percentage points, 33 percentage points and 27 percentage points from October respectively, whereas the share of Supermarkets (56%) dropped by 22 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 (38.4) and retail trade (46.1) were both lower than 50, implying that the business performance of these two industries in November was less satisfactory compared to the same month last year.
As regards the business expectations for December, there were 89% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to increase month-on-month or remain stable, up by 3 percentage points from November. The corresponding shares of Western Restaurants (92%) and Chinese Restaurants (95%) grew by 15 percentage points and 9 percentage points respectively, while the share of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (78%) dropped by 4 percentage points. Meanwhile, 92% of the interviewed retailers predicted that their sales would increase month-on-month or remain stable in December, a growth of 4 percentage points from the preceding month. All of the interviewed retailers of Leather Goods, Watches, Clocks & Jewellery and Adults' Clothing anticipated a month-on-month sales rise or stable performance. The corresponding proportion of Supermarkets (78%) surged by 22 percentage points, while that of Motor Vehicle Retailers (64%) fell by 36 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 (68.7) and retail trade (73.8), indicating that the respondents from both industries predicted a better business outlook in December than in November.
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.