Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dropped by 4.1% year-on-year in September 2022. All the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments registered a year-on-year fall in receipts, with Chinese Restaurants recording a 6.8% decrease. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers went down by 11.3% year-on-year in September; sales of Department Stores, Adults' Clothing Retailers and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers dipped by 34.0%, 18.7% and 10.8% respectively, whereas sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers increased by 13.3%.
In comparison with August, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 13.4% in September; all the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments registered a growth in receipts, with receipts of Western Restaurants, Chinese Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops rising by 19.0%, 16.8% and 11.0% respectively. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers grew by 23.1% month-on-month in September; Department Stores (+58.4%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+33.3%) posted a notable increase in sales, whereas Motor Vehicle Retailers (-24.7%) reported a decline.
As regards the business expectations for October, there were 34% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to increase month-on-month; the corresponding shares for Western Restaurants, Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops and Chinese Restaurants were 42%, 36% and 31% respectively. Over 70% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants predicted their receipts for October would hold steady month-on-month. On the other hand, 20% of the interviewed establishments anticipated a month-on-month decrease in receipts in October. Meanwhile, 48% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales growth in October, with the corresponding shares for Department Stores (67%) and Leather Goods Retailers (60%) being relatively high. By contrast, around 18% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales drop in October, and the corresponding proportion for Motor Vehicle Retailers reached 60%.
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 (57.0) and retail trade (65.1), indicating that the respondents from both industries expected a better business outlook in October compared to September.
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.