Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 56% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reporting a year-on-year rise in receipts or steady performance in December 2021, a growth of 6 percentage points from November; the corresponding proportion of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (44%) rose by 20 percentage points. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers recording a year-on-year sales rise or stable performance in December (66%) went up by 10 percentage points from the previous month. The corresponding proportions of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (77%) and Motor Vehicle Retailers (46%) both increased by 27 percentage points, and the shares of Supermarkets (78%) and Leather Goods Retailers (80%) grew by 22 percentage points and 20 percentage points respectively. For the Business Performance Index (BPI) that reflects the trend of year-on-year changes in business receipts, the value for restaurants & similar establishments (41.2) was lower than 50 in December 2021, indicating that the business performance of the industry was less satisfactory compared to the same month in 2020. On the other hand, the BPI for retail trade (58.6) was higher than 50, implying that the business of the industry fared better than in December 2020.
As regards the business expectations for January 2022, there were 41% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month, up by 30 percentage points from December 2021. The corresponding shares of Western Restaurants (62%), Chinese Restaurants (35%) and Japanese & Korean Restaurants (48%) grew by 54 percentage points, 29 percentage points and 24 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 42% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales decrease in January 2022, a growth of 34 percentage points from December 2021. The corresponding proportion of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (59%) surged by 59 percentage points, and both the shares of Motor Vehicle Retailers (91%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (64%) leapt by 55 percentage points. 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 (37.3) and retail trade (40.4), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in January 2022 compared to December 2021.
For the whole year of 2021, there were 5 months in the first half year when the BPI exceeded 50 for both restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade. However, the two industries recorded a BPI of over 50 in only 2 months and 4 months respectively in the second half year, ascribable to the import-related cases of coronavirus infection.
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.