Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments grew by 0.3% year-on-year in January 2022; receipts of Chinese Restaurants increased by 5.5% whereas those of Western Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops dropped by 10.8% and 7.6% respectively. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers went up by 16.3% year-on-year in January, with notable rise in the sales of Leather Goods Retailers (+24.0%), Department Stores (+20.0%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+19.6%); on the other hand, sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers (-23.9%) showed a marked decrease.
In comparison with December 2021, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 5.4% in January 2022, with receipts of Western Restaurants (-23.2%) showing the largest fall. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers dropped by 19.5% month-on-month in January, with those of Motor Vehicle Retailers (-52.7%), Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (-35.1%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (-34.8%) and Department Stores (-32.4%) recording a substantial decline.
As regards the business expectations for February, there were 41% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to decrease month-on-month; the corresponding share for Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops was the highest, at 64%. By contrast, 30% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in February, and the corresponding proportion for Chinese restaurants was 49%. Meanwhile, 32% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales decrease in February, and the corresponding shares for Motor Vehicle Retailers (46%) and Supermarkets (44%) were relatively significant. On the other hand, 24% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales rise in February. The corresponding proportions for Department Stores and Leather Goods Retailers were 42% and 40% respectively.
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 (44.6) and retail trade (46.1), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in February compared to January.
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. The business performance in the reference month is reflected by the change in the receipts of the sampled establishments and retailers in the reference month as against the month of comparison. 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 month of comparison, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.
