Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the local confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in mid-June 2022 had notable impacts on the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade. Receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dropped by 34.1% year-on-year in June, with Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants recording respective decreases of 42.1% and 40.1%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers fell by 32.8% year-on-year in June; Motor Vehicle Retailers (-55.7%), Department Stores (-51.2%), Adults' Clothing Retailers (-44.8%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (-39.9%) posted a significant decline in sales, while Supermarkets (+28.1%) registered an increase.
In comparison with May, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 28.0% in June; receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants, Chinese Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops fell by 34.3%, 33.0% and 29.7% respectively. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers decreased by 21.7% month-on-month in June; Motor Vehicle Retailers (-40.0%), Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (-31.5%) and Department Stores (-30.8%) showed a notable drop in sales, while Supermarkets (+23.4%) recorded a rise.
As regards the business expectations for July, respondents from both industries were not optimistic about their prospects owing to the lingering impacts of the pandemic. There were 97% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month in July, with all of the interviewed Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops anticipating a decline in receipts. On the other hand, around 2% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in July. Meanwhile, 75% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales drop in July, with the corresponding shares for Department Stores (83%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (83%), Motor Vehicle Retailers (82%) and Leather Goods Retailers (80%) reaching 80% or above. By contrast, 6% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales rise in July, 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 (2.5) and retail trade (15.6), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in July compared to 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 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.