Hong Kong restaurant sales rise while retail sales slip

Retail sales may be down but Hong Kong restaurant sales rose by 3 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) provisionally estimates the value of restaurants receipts at HK$31.5 billion, while the value of purchases by restaurants increased by 3.1 per cent to $10 billion.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of restaurant receipts rose by 0.5 per cent compared with a year earlier.

By comparison, Hong Kong retail sales for the quarter fell by 1.2 per cent.

Analysed by restaurant type, Chinese restaurant sales decreased by 0.6 per cent in value and by 2.7 per cent in volume. Total receipts of non-Chinese restaurants increased by 4.8 per cent in value and by 2.4 per cent in volume. Fast food shop sales rose by 5.8 per cent in value and by 2.8 per cent in volume.

Sales in bars rose by 2.6 per cent in value and by 0.4 per cent in volume, while “miscellaneous eating and drinking places” saw sales rise by 11.2 per cent in value and by 7 per cent in volume.

C&SD also released figures for restaurant receipts and purchases for each month during the quarter. Receipts rose by 6.7 per cent in January, by 0.8 per cent in February and by 1.4 per cent in March, compared with the same months last year.

However, after factoring in inflation, it estimated restaurant sales rose by 3.8 per cent in January, but decreased by 1.3 per cent in February and by 1 per cent in March.

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