Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers recorded significant year-on-year growth in receipts in July 2023, mainly due to the relatively low base of comparison in the same month last year. Receipts of the interviewed establishments surged by 354.2% year-on-year, with receipts of Chinese Restaurants, Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Western Restaurants soaring by 738.1%, 455.0% and 355.0% respectively. In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers jumped by 455.7% year-on-year in July. Leather Goods Retailers (+3,078.2%), Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (+2,708.8%), Department Stores (+1,193.1%) and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers (+1,070.9%) posted a notable rise in sales, whereas only Supermarkets (-26.5%) registered a sales decrease.

In comparison with June, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went up by 10.9% in July; all types of interviewed establishments registered an increase in receipts, with receipts of Chinese Restaurants and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops rising by 10.4% and 8.7% respectively. Besides, sales of the interviewed retailers grew by 1.6% month-on-month in July; retailers of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles and Adults' Clothing reported respective sales growth of 15.4% and 8.9%, while sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers dropped by 9.8%.

As regards the business expectations for August, there were 64% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expecting their receipts to remain stable month-on-month; meanwhile, 20% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would decrease month-on-month in August, and the corresponding share for Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops was 23%. For retail trade, 39% of the interviewed retailers forecasted a month-on-month sales increase in August, and the corresponding proportions for Leather Goods Retailers, Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers and Department Stores reached 60%, 55% and 50% respectively. By contrast, around 10% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales decline in August.

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 restaurants & similar establishments (47.6), indicating that the interviewed establishments predicted a less favourable business outlook for August as compared to July. On the other hand, the index value for retail trade (64.4) was higher than 50, showing that the interviewed retailers foresaw better business prospects in August than in the previous month.

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.