Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments went down by 2.7% year-on-year in March 2024. Receipts of Japanese & Korean Restaurants showed a marked drop (-21.2%), while those of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops rose by 2.8%. Meanwhile, sales of the interviewed retailers fell by 22.4% year-on-year in March. All types of interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year decline in sales; retailers of Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery posted respective decreases of 32.5% and 31.3% in sales.

In comparison with February, receipts of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments dipped by 17.2% in March after the Lunar New Year holiday. All types of interviewed establishments registered a decline in receipts, with Chinese Restaurants recording a notable fall (-26.4%). In addition, sales of the interviewed retailers went down by 25.2% month-on-month in March; sales of Adults' Clothing Retailers, Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers, Department Stores and Leather Goods Retailers decreased by 33.5%, 32.4%, 26.8% and 24.3% respectively, whereas sales of Motor Vehicle Retailers grew by 27.0%.

As regards the business expectations for April, 37% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments forecasted a month-on-month drop in receipts, and the corresponding share for Chinese Restaurants reached 53%. On the other hand, about 10% of the interviewed establishments predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in April. For retail trade, 29% of the interviewed retailers expected a month-on-month sales decline in April, and the corresponding shares for Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles Retailers, Motor Vehicle Retailers, Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and Department Stores were 55%, 36%, 35% and 30% respectively. By contrast, around 15% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a month-on-month sales growth in April.

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 (36.6) and retail trade (42.9), indicating that the respondents from both industries envisaged a less favourable business outlook in April compared to March.

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. As a panel sample of establishments is used in this Survey, the changes in receipts in the reference month as compared to the month of comparison serve as reference indicators of the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments and retailers. 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 reference month, whereas an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.