More must have dined out in the third quarter of 2011

Analysed by type of restaurant, total receipts of miscellaneous eating and drinking places increased by 8.1% in value and 0.6% in volume in the third quarter of 2011 as compared to a year earlier.

Over the same period, total receipts of bars increased by 7.4% in value and 3.3% in volume, while total receipts of Chinese restaurants increased by 7.3% in value and 1.5% in volume.

Total receipts of fast food shops increased by 6.9% in value and 1.7% in volume in the third quarter of 2011 as compared to a year earlier. As for non-Chinese restaurants, total receipts increased by 3.5% in value but decreased by 2.3% in volume.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, the volume of total restaurant receipts increased by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2011 as compared to the second quarter of 2011.

Comparing the first three quarters of 2011 with the same period in 2010, total restaurant receipts increased by 6.0% in value and 1.0% in volume.

To facilitate better understanding of the short-term business performance of the restaurants sector, statistics in respect of the restaurant receipts and purchases in individual months of the reference quarter are also compiled.

Analysed by month, the value of total receipts of the restaurants sector was provisionally estimated at $7.6 billion, $7.4 billion and $7.3 billion respectively in July, August and September 2011. The provisional value of total purchases by restaurants was the same in July, August and September 2011, at $2.7 billion each month.

After discounting the effect of price changes, total restaurant receipts increased by 2.3% in volume in July 2011 but decreased by 0.5% and 0.3% respectively in August and September 2011 as compared to a year earlier.