Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that 36% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year rise in receipts in November 2018, up by 3 percentage points from October. The corresponding proportion of Chinese Restaurants (44%) increased by 12 percentage points while that of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (9%) decreased by 23 percentage points. Meanwhile, 30% of the interviewed establishments recorded a year-on-year decline in receipts, down by 9 percentage points from October. The corresponding proportion of Western Restaurants (25%) reduced by 20 percentage points whereas that of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (55%) rose by 18 percentage points.
As regards retail trade, 44% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales increase in November 2018, up by 3 percentage points from October. All of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers showed a year-on-year sales growth in November, a significant increase of 60 percentage points in the proportion compared with October. The corresponding proportions of Supermarkets (67%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (33%) each grew by 11 percentage points, while the share of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (20%) decreased by 30 percentage points. On the other hand, 38% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year sales decrease in November, up by 5 percentage points from October, with the corresponding proportions of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (60%) and Adults’ Clothing Retailers (50%) rising by 20 and 15 percentage points respectively.
The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expected their business to be stable in December 2018, with 52% of them anticipating their receipts to remain steady year-on-year, up by 3 percentage points from November. The corresponding proportion of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (50%) rose by 14 percentage points from November. Meanwhile, 27% of the interviewed establishments anticipated a year-on-year decline in receipts, down by 6 percentage points from November. Among the various types of interviewed establishments, although there were 15% of the Western Restaurants expecting a year-on-year decline in receipts in December, a notable drop of 15 percentage points from the proportion in November was observed.
Retailers were cautious about their business prospects in December 2018, with the proportion of interviewed retailers expecting stable sales (49%) remaining steady compared with November. On the other hand, 30% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year sales decrease, up by 2 percentage points from November. Among the various types of interviewed retailers, 50% of the Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers and 36% of the Department Stores expected a year-on-year sales decrease in December, up by 20 and 18 percentage points respectively from November, whereas the corresponding share of Motor Vehicle Retailers (40%) dropped by 30 percentage points.
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 186 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 136 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts) after rotating some of the samples. The Survey results were not extrapolated and only reflect the assessment of the business performance and expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers.
