Results of monthly survey on business situation of small and medium-sized enterprises for August 2021
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The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs increased from 46.6 in July 2021 in the contractionary zone to 49.0 in August 2021, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. September 2021) outlook DI on business receipts was 49.5. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for many surveyed sectors rose by varying degrees in August 2021 as compared with previous month, particularly for the retail trade (from 44.6 to 52.4) and wholesale trade (from 43.4 to 50.0).
The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades increased from 47.9 in July 2021 to 49.5 in August 2021, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. September 2021) was 50.3.
Commentary
A government spokesman said that business sentiment among SMEs improved for the third consecutive month in August, thanks to the global economic recovery and the stabilised local epidemic situation. In particular, the sub-index for retail trade rose notably and entered the expansionary zone amid the boosting effect of the Consumption Voucher Scheme.
The spokesman added that the Government's disbursement of the second batch of electronic consumption vouchers in due course would render support to the consumption-related sectors in the rest of the year. Nonetheless, the spread of more infectious COVID-19 variants across the world continues to warrant concern. The community should therefore stay vigilant and strive towards more widespread vaccination. The Government will monitor the situation closely.
Further information
The Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises aims to provide a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for assessing the short-term business situation faced by SMEs. SMEs covered in this survey refer to establishments with fewer than 50 persons engaged. Respondents were asked to exclude seasonal fluctuations in reporting their views. Based on the views collected from the survey, a set of diffusion indices (including current and outlook diffusion indices) is compiled. A reading above 50 indicates that the business condition is generally favourable, whereas that below 50 indicates otherwise. As for statistics on the business prospects of prominent establishments in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.
It should be noted that the results of the survey should be interpreted with care. The survey solicits feedback from a panel sample of about 600 SMEs each month and the survey findings are thus subject to sample size constraint. Views collected from the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own establishments rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in. Besides, in this type of opinion survey on expected business situation, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents' perception of the business situation accords with the underlying trends. For this survey, main bulk of the data were collected in the last week of the reference month.
More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey on the Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises". Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080015&scode=300).
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: sme-survey@censtatd.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, September 9, 2021
Issued at HKT 16:30
Issued at HKT 16:30
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