These sectors' operating expenses edge up 5.1% to $432.2b

And their receipts dipped 0.5%.

According to a government release, transportation, storage and courier services receipts amounted to $484.2 billion in 2011, a drop of 0.5% year-on-year, the Census & Statistics Department has announced.

On a per-establishment basis, total receipts rose 5.2% year-on-year to $18.2 million.

The sector’s operating expenses and employee compensation altogether amounted to $432.2 billion last year, up 5.1% over 2010; on a per-establishment basis, they rose 11.1% to $16.2 million.

The sector’s gross surplus - total receipts less operating expenses and employee compensation - fell 30.9% to $52 billion; on a per-establishment basis, gross surplus decreased from $2.68 million in 2010 to $1.96 million in 2011. Gross surplus accounted for 10.7% of total receipts in 2011, down 4.7 percentage points over 2010.

The sector’s value added - a measure of its contribution to Hong Kong's Gross Domestic Product - dropped 14.6% over 2010, to $112.2 billion in 2011; on a per-establishment basis, the value added was $4.2 million in 2011, a drop of 9.7% year-on-year.

It was estimated that the sector comprised about 26,600 establishments and engaged about 220,900 people, or an average of 8.3 people per establishment, in 2011.