Survey | Restaurant industry sales up by 14.6 pct

A total of 2,112 restaurants, eating and drinking places, and cooked-food stalls in municipal markets were operating in 2014, up by 194 year-on-year, according to a survey released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). Restaurant industry sales went up by 14.6 percent year-on-year to MOP9.63 billion, while expenditure amounted to MOP 9.12 billion, an increase of 17.6 percent year-on-year.
According to the data collected by DSEC, the number of people engaged in the industry went up by 16.6 percent to 30,401, with employees accounting for 94.6 percent of total.
Regarding expenditure, the purchase of goods (MOP 3.53 billion) and compensation of employees (MOP 3.10 billion) increased by 9.6 percent and 21.4 percent respectively year-on-year. Rents, the main operating expense of many businesses, accounted for 41.6 percent of total.
Analyzed by type of restaurant, local-style teahouses and congee/noodle shops topped the list (815) followed by Chinese restaurants (504). The latter are larger in size, number of persons engaged and revenues.
The restaurants and similar establishments surveyed in 2014 included licensed restaurants, eating, drinking places, and cooked-food stalls in municipal markets, excluding those similar restaurants and facilities directly operated by hotels and casinos, as well as street hawkers.