Restaurant receipts down 25.9% to $21.2b in Q2

The declines narrowed from Q1 as social distancing measures eased.

The total value of receipts of Hong Kong’s restaurants dropped 25.9% YoY to $21.2b in Q2 2020, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). Total purchases by restaurants fell 24.7% to $7b over the same period.

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total restaurant receipts slipped 26.9%. On a QoQ seasonally adjusted series, total receipts climbed 5% in value and 5.3% in volume.

A government spokesperson noted that the decline narrowed from the record fall registered in Q1, thanks to the abated local epidemic situation and consequential easing of social distancing measures in May and June.

In the first half of 2020, total restaurant receipts dropped by 28.7% YoY in value and 29.8% in volume.

Bars recorded the sharpest drop in total receipts by 46.5% in value and 48.4%. It is followed by Chinese restaurants, with slumps of 31.7% in value and 32.7% in volume. Non-Chinese restaurants, fast food shops, and miscellaneous eating and drinking places all saw declines in value and volume ranging between 19.1% and 22.6%.

The spokesperson further pointed out that the business environment of the food and beverage sector is expected to be highly challenging in the near term as the social distancing measures have been tightened again following a surge in local infection cases since July.