MACAO, June 17 – Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicates that the receipts of surveyed restaurants and similar establishments fell 15.5% year-on-year in April 2022, with Western restaurants and Chinese restaurants recording a decrease of 24.0% and 23.9% respectively. Meanwhile, sales at surveyed retailers fell 44.6% year-on-year in April; Watches, clocks and jewelry retailers (-59.0%), department stores (-58.2%), adult clothing retailers (-56.1%) and cosmetics and sanitary ware retailers (-51.1%) all recorded a drop of more than 50% in their sales, while Supermarkets (+7.3%) recorded an increase.
Compared to March, the receipts of the restaurants & similar surveyed fell slightly by 0.2% in April; Chinese restaurant receipts fell 1.8% while Western restaurant receipts increased 1.8%. Additionally, sales at surveyed retailers fell 10.9% month-on-month in April; Leather goods retailers, department stores and motor vehicle retailers recorded sales declines of 17.0%, 12.5% and 12.2% respectively.
Regarding business expectations for the month of May, 43% of restaurants and similar establishments surveyed expect their revenue to increase month on month; the corresponding shares for Chinese restaurants and Western restaurants were 60% and 52%, respectively. Meanwhile, 19% of establishments surveyed predicted their revenue would decline month-over-month in May, and the corresponding proportions for local-style cafes, congee and noodle shops, and Japanese and Korean restaurants were 34% and 31% respectively. On the other hand, 37% of retailers surveyed expected higher month-over-month sales in May; the corresponding shares for Leather Goods Retailers, Cosmetics and Sanitary Ware Retailers and Adult Clothing Retailers were 60%, 55% and 41% respectively. In addition, 16% of retailers surveyed were anticipating lower month-over-month sales in May, with the corresponding proportion for motor vehicle retailers (46%) being the highest.
The business outlook index (BOI), which reflects the trend of monthly variations in revenue anticipated by the establishments surveyed, was above 50 for restaurants and similar establishments (61.7) and retail trade (60.8) , indicating that respondents in both industries were expecting better business prospects in May compared to April.
The Restaurant and Similar Establishments and Retail Business Climate Survey sample includes 229 restaurants and similar establishments and 161 retailers, which accounted for 53.5% and 70.6% of industry revenue respectively in 2019. The results of the survey have not been extrapolated. The commercial performance of the reference month is reflected by the evolution of the receipts of the establishments and merchants of the sample during the reference month compared to the comparison month. The BOI value is between 0 and 100; an index value above 50 implies that the industry has higher trading expectations for the coming month compared to the comparison month, while an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.
