Business climate survey on restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade for July 2016

The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released, for the first time, the results of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade. The Survey has been conducted since the beginning of 2016, which aims to provide a timely overview of the business performance of the surveyed industries. In accordance with the results, the business performance of Restaurants & Similar Establishments improved in July as compared to the previous months of 2016. The proportion of interviewed restaurants that posted a year-on-year growth in receipts increased to 34%, a record high for the first seven months of this year. Meanwhile, the proportion that recorded decline shrank to 43%. Among the various types of restaurants & similar establishments, 47% of the Chinese Restaurants reported a year-on-year increase in receipts in July; yet, 81% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants saw a decrease. Business performance of Retail Trade showed a rebound in July as compared to the first half year of 2016, with 26% of the interviewed retailers posting a year-on-year growth in sales. Among the various types of retailers, 80% of the Leather Goods Retailers and 67% of the Supermarkets recorded a year-on-year increase in sales in July, with 33% of the interviewed Supermarkets reporting a growth of 20% or more. However, all of the interviewed Motor Vehicle Retailers and 78% of the Department Stores registered a decline in sales. With respect to business prospects, 15% of the interviewed restaurants anticipated a year-on-year growth in receipts in August 2016 while 44% expected their receipts to remain stable. In particular, 20% of the Chinese Restaurants anticipated a year-on-year rise in receipts in August while 47% expected steady sales. On the contrary, the Japanese & Korean Restaurants were generally less confident about their business prospects, with 69% anticipating a year-on-year sales drop in August. Retailers expected a minor improvement in their business prospects; 15% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year growth in sales in August while 28% expected their sales to remain stable. Among them, 67% of the interviewed Supermarkets and 40% of the Leather Goods Retailers expected a year-on-year sales increase. On the other hand, 57% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in sales in August, down marginally by 2 percentage points from June, of which 89% of the Motor Vehicle Retailers, 78% of the Department Stores and 74% of the Clocks, Watches & Jewellery Retailers predicted a sales decline. The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results reflect only the business performance and the expectation of the sample restaurants and retailers, where no extrapolation of results has been conducted. Results of the Business Climate Survey will be released on a monthly basis.