MACAO, July 21 – Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicates that the receipts of restaurants and similar establishments surveyed fell 22.2% year-on-year in May 2022, with Chinese restaurants and Western restaurants recording losses. respective decreases of 30.6% and 28.6%. Meanwhile, sales at surveyed retailers fell 42.2% year-on-year in May; Department stores (-57.4%), adult clothing retailers (-54.6%) and watch, clock and jewelry retailers (-54.0%) saw a significant drop in sales, while supermarkets (+9.8%) recorded an increase.

Compared to April, the receipts of the restaurants & similar surveyed increased by 5.6% in May; revenue from Chinese restaurants and Western restaurants increased by 10.9% and 10.5% respectively. Additionally, sales at surveyed retailers increased 11.9% month-on-month in May; Retailers of cosmetics and sanitary ware (+31.1%) and retailers of watches, clocks and jewelry (+23.1%) recorded notable growth.

In terms of business expectations for June, 78% of restaurants and similar establishments surveyed expect their revenue to decline month-on-month; the corresponding shares for Chinese restaurants, local-style cafes, congee and noodle shops, and Western restaurants were 83%, 81%, and 78%, respectively. Only 9% of establishments surveyed expected revenue to increase month over month in June. Meanwhile, half of retailers surveyed expected month-over-month sales to decline in June, with corresponding shares for motor vehicle retailers (64%), cosmetics and sanitary ware retailers (64 %) and leather goods retailers (60%) reaching 60% or more. In addition, 23% of retailers surveyed expected a monthly increase in sales in June, and the corresponding proportion for supermarkets (44%) was the highest.

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 (15.5) and retail trade (36.5) , indicating that respondents in both industries expected a less favorable business outlook in June compared to May.

The Business Climate in Restaurants and Similar Establishments and Retail Trade sample includes 229 restaurants and similar establishments and 161 retailers, which accounted for 53.5% and 70.6% of the respective industries’ revenue in 2019. Survey results 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 of the reference month compared to the month of comparison. 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.