Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments increased by 22.6% year-on-year in February 2023. All types of interviewed establishments registered a year-on-year rise in receipts, with Western Restaurants recording a notable growth (+64.1%). In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers went up by 7.0% year-on-year in February. Retailers of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles and Leather Goods posted respective increases of 27.8% and 21.1% in sales, whereas Department Stores saw a 10.7% decrease.
In comparison with January in which the Lunar New Year holiday took place, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 15.0% in February; receipts of Chinese Restaurants decreased by 23.8% whereas those of Western Restaurants rose by 3.4%. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers fell by 22.3% month-on-month in February. Sales of Adults' Clothing Retailers (-35.1%) and Supermarkets (-33.5%) dropped markedly, while sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers (+3.5%) increased.
As regards the business expectations for March, there were 29% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month, and the corresponding share for Chinese Restaurants was 39%. On the other hand, 21% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in March, and the corresponding proportion for Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (35%) was relatively high. Meanwhile, about 31% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales growth in March, with the corresponding shares for Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (46%) and Department Stores (42%) exceeding 40%. By contrast, around 29% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales decline in March.
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 restaurants & similar establishments (46.2), indicating that the interviewed establishments predicted a less favourable business outlook for March as compared to February. On the other hand, the index value for retail trade (51.0) was higher than 50, showing that the interviewed retailers foresaw better business prospects in March than in the previous month.
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.