Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade showed year-on-year improvement in December 2017. Among the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments, 44% reported a year-on-year increase in receipts in December and 24% recorded a steady performance. The proportions of Chinese Restaurants and Japanese & Korean Restaurants showing a year-on-year growth in receipts reached 59% and 44% respectively.
As regards retail trade, over 60% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales rise in December. Moreover, 80% of the Leather Goods Retailers, 78% of the Supermarkets, 67% of the Department Stores and 67% of the Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers recorded a sales increase.
Most restaurants & similar establishments expected their business to slacken off in January 2018, and only 15% of the interviewed establishments predicted a year-on-year rise in receipts. Among the various types of establishments, 27% of the Chinese Restaurants and 11% of the Western Restaurants anticipated a year-on-year increase in receipts in January. On the other hand, 36% of the interviewed establishments predicted a decline in receipts, and the corresponding proportions of Western Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants were 47% and 34% respectively.
Retailers expected no significant change in their business in January 2018. Among the interviewed retailers, 28% predicted a year-on-year sales decline, with 44% of the Department Stores, 33% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and 11% of the Motor Vehicle Retailers anticipating a sales decrease. Meanwhile, 31% of the interviewed retailers expected a year-on-year sales increase in January.
In accordance with the survey results for the whole year of 2017, the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade in 2017 showed improvement over 2016. There were more than 60% of the interviewed establishments and retailers reporting a year-on-year growth in receipts or a stable business performance in most of the months in 2017, except in February and August when the business slowed down after the Lunar New Year and the catastrophic typhoon on 23 August respectively. The business of retail trade showed marked improvement in the fourth quarter of 2017, with the proportions of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year sales increase ranging between 59% and 61%, the highest level since the official launch of this survey.
The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the value of receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results were not extrapolated and only reflect the assessment of the business performance and expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers.