Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments increased by 45.8% year-on-year in January 2023, driven by the relaxation of border control measures and the Lunar New Year. Western Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants registered an upsurge of 75.7% and 64.4% respectively in receipts. In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers went up by 35.3% year-on-year in January. Sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers hiked by 65.8%, while sales of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers and Leather Goods Retailers grew by 46.6% and 43.0% respectively; meanwhile, Motor Vehicle Retailers posted a 6.3% fall in sales.
In comparison with December 2022, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments jumped by 85.0% in January 2023, with receipts of Chinese Restaurants and Western Restaurants surging by 134.5% and 84.0% respectively. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers leapt by 93.8% month-on-month in January. Sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+153.1%), Department Stores (+115.0%), Leather Goods Retailers (+109.6%) and Adults' Clothing Retailers (+106.1%) more than doubled, whereas sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers (-18.2%) recorded a decline.
As regards the business expectations for February, there were 55% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month, with the corresponding share for Chinese Restaurants standing at 74%. On the other hand, 19% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in February. Meanwhile, about half of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales drop in February. The corresponding shares for Department Stores (75%), Supermarkets (56%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (55%) were all higher than 50%. By contrast, around 23% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales growth in February, and the corresponding proportions for Leather Goods Retailers and Motor Vehicle Retailers reached 60% and 55% respectively.
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 (32.1) and retail trade (36.4), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in February compared to January.
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.