Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dropped by 22.2% year-on-year in May 2022, with Chinese Restaurants and Western Restaurants recording respective decreases of 30.6% and 28.6%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers fell by 42.2% year-on-year in May; Department Stores (-57.4%), Adults' Clothing Retailers (-54.6%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (-54.0%) posted a significant decline in sales, while Supermarkets (+9.8%) registered an increase.
In comparison with April, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 5.6% in May; receipts of Chinese Restaurants and Western Restaurants rose by 10.9% and 10.5% respectively. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers grew by 11.9% month-on-month in May; Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (+31.1%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+23.1%) recorded a notable growth.
As regards the business expectations for June, there were 78% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month; the corresponding shares for Chinese Restaurants, Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops and Western Restaurants stood at 83%, 81% and 78% respectively. Only 9% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in June. Meanwhile, half of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales drop in June, with the corresponding shares for Motor Vehicle Retailers (64%), Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (64%) and Leather Goods Retailers (60%) reaching 60% or above. Besides, 23% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales rise in June, and the corresponding proportion for Supermarkets (44%) was the highest.
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 (15.5) and retail trade (36.5), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in June compared to May.
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 industrys' receipts in 2019. The Survey results were not extrapolated. The business performance in the reference month is reflected by the change in the receipts of the sampled establishments and retailers in the reference month as against the month of comparison. The value of the BOI ranges between 0 and 100; an index value above 50 implies that the industry has higher business expectations for the coming month as against the month of comparison, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.