Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers was adversely affected by the epidemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia in January 2020. There were 58% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts in January, an increase of 5 percentage points from December 2019. The corresponding proportions of interviewed Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (68%) and Japanese & Korean Restaurants (64%) rose by 30 percentage points and 20 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 23% of the interviewed establishments showed a year-on-year rise in receipts in January 2020, representing a 1 percentage point decrease from December 2019; the corresponding proportion of Chinese Restaurants (43%) showed the only growth (+22 percentage points) owing to the Lunar New Year.

As regards retail trade, 48% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales decrease in January, a rise of 7 percentage points from December last year. The corresponding shares of interviewed Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (80%) and Department Stores (46%) surged by 40 percentage points and 27 percentage points respectively. On the other hand, 35% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year sales increase in January, down by 8 percentage points from December last year.

The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers expected a significant slowdown in business in February, with 89% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and 59% of the retailers anticipating a year-on-year decline of 50% or more in receipts.

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.