Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers in February 2020 was subdued amid the ongoing epidemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia. There were 98% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts in February, an increase of 39 percentage points from January. All of the interviewed Chinese Restaurants and Japanese & Korean Restaurants showed a year-on-year decrease in receipts, with their respective proportions surging by 57 percentage points and 36 percentage points from January. Besides, the corresponding share of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (98%) grew by 30 percentage points. Meanwhile, only 2% of the interviewed establishments showed a year-on-year rise in receipts in February, down by 22 percentage points from January.

As regards retail trade, there were 85% of the interviewed retailers registering a year-on-year sales decrease in February, a rise of 37 percentage points over the preceding month. All of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers, Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Adults’ Clothing Retailers and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers showed a year-on-year sales decline in February. The corresponding proportion of Department Stores rose by 45 percentage points from January to 91%. There were 13% of the interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year sales increase in February, a 22 percentage point drop from January; however, the corresponding proportion of Supermarkets (78%) registered the only growth of 11 percentage points.

The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and retailers expected their business outlook to remain unfavourable in March, with 76% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments and 59% of the retailers anticipating a year-on-year decline of 50% or more in receipts. The corresponding proportion of Chinese Restaurants reached 94%, whereas all of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers predicted a year-on-year sales decrease of 50% or more in March.

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.