Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 5.5% month-on-month in May 2024; receipts of Chinese Restaurants rose by 13.7%, whereas those of Western Restaurants fell by 6.9%. In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers increased by 5.3% month-on-month in May; sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and Supermarkets grew by 15.8% and 14.6% respectively, whereas sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers dropped by 7.2%.
In comparison with May 2023, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 5.9% in May 2024; receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Western Restaurants fell by 18.1% and 12.5% respectively, while receipts of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops rose slightly by 0.5%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers slipped by 25.9% year-on-year in May; retailers of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles posted respective decreases of 34.9% and 33.0% in sales, while Supermarkets recorded a sales growth of 4.8%.
As regards the business expectations for June, 38% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments forecasted a month-on-month drop in receipts, and the corresponding share for Chinese Restaurants reached 51%. On the other hand, about 10% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in June, and the corresponding proportion for Western Restaurants was 32%. For retail trade, 35% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales decline in June, and the corresponding shares for Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Department Stores and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers were 52%, 40% and 30% respectively. By contrast, around 19% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales growth in June.
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 (36.0) and retail trade (41.8), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in June compared to May.
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. As a panel sample of establishments is used in this Survey, the changes in receipts in the reference month as compared to the month of comparison serve as reference indicators of the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers. 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 reference month, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.