MACAO, May 19 – Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicates that the receipts of surveyed restaurants and similar establishments fell 18.7% year-on-year in March 2022, with Chinese restaurants and Western restaurants recording losses. decreases of 29.0% and 28.4% respectively. Meanwhile, sales at surveyed retailers fell 34.7% year-on-year in March; Department Stores (-51.7%), Watches, Clocks & Jewelry Retailers (-51.1%), Cosmetics & Sanitary Items Retailers (-44.1%) and Adult Clothing Retailers (- 43.7%) recorded a significant drop in sales, while Supermarkets (+11.4%) recorded an increase.
Compared to February, the receipts of restaurants & similar surveyed fell by 18.9% in March; Chinese restaurant and Western restaurant receipts fell by 36.2% and 22.0% respectively, while those of local style cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops increased slightly by 0.6%. Additionally, sales at surveyed retailers fell 32.9% month-on-month in March; Retailers of watches, clocks and jewelry (-48.3%), department stores (-45.1%) and retailers of adult clothing (-43.7%) saw a notable drop in sales, while motor vehicle retailers (+42.6%) posted a marked increase in sales.
Regarding business expectations for the month of April, 33% of restaurants and similar establishments surveyed expected their revenue to decline month-on-month; the corresponding share for Chinese restaurants reaches 40%. Meanwhile, 20% of establishments surveyed expected their revenue to increase month-over-month in April, and the corresponding proportions for Chinese restaurants and Western restaurants both stood at 22%. On the other hand, 41% of retailers surveyed expected lower month-on-month sales in April, and the corresponding shares for leather goods retailers, watch, clock and jewelry retailers and department stores were 60%, 48% and 46%. respectively. Additionally, 20% of retailers surveyed expected a monthly increase in sales in April. The corresponding proportion for motor vehicle retailers was 36%.
The business outlook index (BOI), which reflects the trend of monthly variations in revenue anticipated by the establishments surveyed, was below 50 for restaurants and similar establishments (43.4) and retail trade (39.5) , indicating that respondents in both industries expected a less favorable business outlook in April compared to March.
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.
