Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that all types of interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers registered a year-on-year rise in receipts in April 2023. Receipts of the interviewed establishments rose by 57.0% year-on-year, with notable growth in the receipts of Western Restaurants (+134.0%) and Chinese Restaurants (+82.3%). In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers grew by 73.5% year-on-year in April; retailers of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery, Adults' Clothing and Leather Goods posted substantial increases of 125.0%, 114.4% and 101.3% in sales respectively.
In comparison with March, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 1.9% in April; receipts of Western Restaurants rose by 6.8% whereas those of Japanese & Korean Restaurants dropped slightly by 0.2%. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers edged up by 0.2% month-on-month in April; retailers of Motor Vehicles and Adults' Clothing reported sales rise of 22.0% and 10.3% respectively, while the sales of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers decreased by 7.2% and 4.1% respectively.
As regards the business expectations for May, there were 26% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to increase month-on-month; the corresponding share for Chinese Restaurants was 36%. On the other hand, 26% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would decrease month-on-month in May, and the corresponding proportion for Western Restaurants was 30%. Meanwhile, 33% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales growth in May; the corresponding share for Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers reached 46%. By contrast, around 20% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales decline in May.
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 (50.3) and retail trade (56.7), indicating that the respondents from both industries expected a better business outlook in May compared to April.
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.