Restaurant takings surge in September

The receipts of restaurants and similar establishments interviewed by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) went up 35.9% year-on-year in September 2023, the DSEC noted in a release.

Leading the hike were Western Restaurants (+68.5%), followed by Chinese Restaurants (+46.5%), and Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (+35.3%), while this increase was partially offset by the drop registered in Japanese & Korean Restaurant operations (-27.9%).

Compared month-on-month with August 2023, the receipts of the interviewed restaurants and similar establishments showed a decrease of 13.7% in September, a fact attributed to the end of the summer holiday period.

While all types of establishments interviewed registered a decrease in receipts, Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Western Restaurants were the ones with the greatest drop, by 24.2% and 19.7%, respectively.

As regards the business expectations for October, 31% of the interviewed restaurants and similar establishments expect their receipts to increase month-on-month due to the expected influx of visitors during the National Day golden week.

Western Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants were the most optimistic with 39% and 33% respectively of all those interviewed saying that they were expecting increases in receipts for October. RM