Gov’t data paints challenging picture for the city’s restaurant industry

Receipts for interviewed restaurants and similar establishments dropped 2.7% year-over-year, with Japanese and Korean restaurants seeing a significant 21.2% decline. In contrast, local-style cafes, congees, and noodle shops managed a 2.8% increase. The data also showed month-over-month declines, with restaurant receipts dipping 17.2% after the Lunar New Year holiday, led by a 26.4% fall for Chinese restaurants.

Looking ahead to April, the outlook remains gloomy. 37% of interviewed restaurants forecast a month-over-month drop in their receipts, including over half of Chinese restaurants. On the retail side, 29% of respondents expected sales to decline further, with the future sales of cosmetics, motor vehicles, watches and jewelry, and department store goods viewed as particularly pessimistic.

The Business Outlook Index, which reflects anticipated month-over-month changes, was below 50 for both restaurants (36.6) and retail (42.9), indicating respondents foresee less favorable conditions in April compared to March.

While the DSEC survey represents a sizable portion of each industry’s receipts, the results were not extrapolated across the full market. Nevertheless, the data points to persistent challenges facing Macau’s consumer-facing businesses in the near future. Howard Tong