Restaurant receipts down 11.7% to $26.4b in Q3

This is the worst year-on-year decline recorded since the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The provisional value of restaurant receipts deteriorated sharply in Q3, falling 11.7% YoY to $26.4b compared to a year earlier, according to the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). This is the largest year-on-year decline recorded since the outbreak of SARS in the Q2 2003, a government spokesman noted.

Over the same period, the provisional estimate of the value of total purchases by restaurants decreased by 10.9%YoY to $8.5b.

Total receipts of Chinese restaurants fell 17.8% YoY in value and 19.7% YoY in volume. Meanwhile, total receipts of non-Chinese restaurants slipped 13.3% YoY in value and 15.1% YoY in volume.

Total receipts of bars also diminished 18% YoY in value and 18.6% YoY in volume, whilst receipts of miscellaneous eating and drinking places also dipped 2% YoY in value and 5.2% YoY in volume.

In contrast, receipts of fast food shops rose by 2.2% YoY in value and 0.7% YoY in volume.

“The plunge in restaurant receipts in the third quarter mainly reflected the severe disruptions to food and beverage businesses caused by the local social incidents, whilst weak consumer sentiment amid subdued economic conditions also played a part,” the government spokesman commented.

The spokesman further pointed out that looking ahead, food and beverage businesses will still face immense pressure in the near term amid continued protests involving violence and the subdued economic outlook.

Comparing the first three quarters of 2019 with the same period in 2018, total restaurant receipts decreased by 3% YoY in value and 5.2% YoY in volume.

Analysed by month, C&SD provisionally estimated that the value of total receipts of the restaurants sector decreased by 9.2% YoY, 12.9% YoY, and 13.1% YoY in July, August and September respectively, compared with the corresponding months a year earlier.

After discounting the effect of price changes, it was provisionally estimated that the volume of total restaurant receipts decreased by 11.2% in July 2019 and 14.8% in both August and September 2019, compared with the corresponding months a year earlier.