Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments remained subdued in December 2019. There were 54% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts in December, an increase of 6 percentage points from November. The corresponding proportions of Western Restaurants (63%) and Japanese & Korean Restaurants (44%) rose by 16 percentage points and 13 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 24% of the interviewed establishments reported a year-on-year rise in receipts in December, representing a 6 percentage point decrease from November.
Retail trade business in December 2019 also slackened, with the proportion of interviewed retailers registering a year-on-year sales increase dropping by 10 percentage points from November to 43%. The corresponding shares of interviewed Leather Goods Retailers (80%) and Department Stores (55%) fell by 20 percentage points and 18 percentage points respectively, while the proportion of Supermarkets (89%) rose by 22 percentage points. On the other hand, 42% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year sales decrease in December, an increase of 10 percentage points from November, with the corresponding proportion of Motor Vehicle Retailers (89%) surging by 67 percentage points.
As regards business prospects, since data were collected before the COVID-19 infections occurred, the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments at that time expected an improvement in their business in January 2020 whereas the interviewed retailers anticipated a stable performance.
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). The Survey results were not extrapolated and only reflect the assessment of the business performance and expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers.
