Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers showed a slight improvement in September as compared to August. There were 38% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments recording a year-on-year rise in receipts in September, an increase of 5 percentage points from August. The corresponding proportions of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (43%) and Chinese Restaurants (34%) rose by 8 percentage points and 5 percentage points respectively, whereas the share of Western Restaurants (42%) dropped by 8 percentage points. On the other hand, 36% of the interviewed establishments reported a year-on-year decline in receipts in September, representing a 2 percentage point decrease from August. The corresponding proportion of Japanese & Korean Restaurants (22%) fell by 9 percentage points.

As regards retail trade, 43% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales increase in September, a growth of 3 percentage points from the preceding month. All of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers and 67% of the Supermarkets showed a year-on-year sales rise in September, which were identical to the proportions in August; the corresponding share of Motor Vehicle Retailers (56%) surged by 36 percentage points. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year decrease in sales reduced by 1 percentage point from August to 39%, with the corresponding shares of Motor Vehicle Retailers (44%) and Watchers, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (33%) falling by 36 percentage points and 17 percentage points respectively.

The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expected a stable business performance in October, with 42% of them anticipating their receipts to remain steady year-on-year, an increase of 4 percentage points from September. The corresponding proportions of Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Western Restaurants stood at 57% and 42% respectively, up by 13 percentage points and 17 percentage points from September. On the other hand, the proportion of interviewed establishments predicting a year-on-year decline in receipts in October decreased by 3 percentage points to 41%.

Retailers expected their business to stabilise in October, with 27% of the interviewed retailers forecasting their sales to increase year-on-year, a growth of 5 percentage points from September. Among the interviewed retailers, 80% of the Leather Goods Retailers and 56% of the Supermarkets predicted their sales to rise year-on-year in October, whereas the corresponding proportion of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers reduced by 20 percentage points to 10%. Meanwhile, 32% of the interviewed retailers foresaw a year-on-year sales decrease in October, down by 3 percentage points from September.

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.