Quarterly business receipts indices for service industries for first quarter of 2023
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Comparing the first quarter of 2023 with the first quarter of 2022, double-digit increases were recorded in business receipts of the accommodation services (+84.5%), food services (+81.7%), banking (+30.6%), retail (+24.1%), and administrative and support services (+21.9%) industries. On the other hand, double-digit decreases were recorded in business receipts of the transportation (-18.7%), import/export trade (-17.5%) and courier (-12.5%) industries during the same period.
Analysed by service domain, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain increased by 400.6% year-on-year during the same period, whereas those of the computer and information technology services domain decreased by 9.9% year-on-year.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, business receipts in value terms of most of the major service industries recorded increases of different magnitudes in the first quarter of 2023 when compared with the fourth quarter of 2022. In particular, double-digit increases were recorded in business receipts of the accommodation services (+53.4%) and retail (+12.0%) industries. On the other hand, a double-digit decrease was recorded in business receipts of the courier (-10.6%) industry during the same period.
Comparing the first quarter of 2023 with the fourth quarter of 2022 and on a seasonally adjusted basis, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain increased by 150.3%, while those of the computer and information technology services domain also increased by 5.5%.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that business of many service industries improved in the first quarter of 2023, thanks to the strong recovery of inbound tourism and domestic demand. Yet, the weak external environment continued to weigh on the business performance of those service industries that are related to external trade.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, business receipts of most service industries increased in the first quarter of 2023. On a year-on-year comparison, business receipts of many service industries increased, notably the retail, land transport, air transport, accommodation services, food services, film entertainment, banking, and administrative and support services industries. On the other hand, some industries saw decreases in business receipts, notably the import/export trade, water transport, courier, and asset management industries.
Looking ahead, the recovery of inbound tourism and domestic demand will continue to benefit the domestically-oriented service industries. The disbursement of consumption vouchers and "Happy Hong Kong" events will provide additional support to the consumption-related industries. Yet, slower growth in the advanced economies will continue to pose pressure on the externally-oriented service industries.
Further information
Table 1 presents the business receipts indices and their corresponding year-on-year rates of change in respect of selected service industries and service domains for the recent five quarters, while Table 2 shows the corresponding quarter-to-quarter rates of change in the business receipts indices for the recent five quarters based on the seasonally adjusted series.
The revised figures of business receipts indices for the first quarter of 2023 will be released at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/web_table.html?id=660-69001) and relevant publications of the C&SD starting from July 20, 2023.
Data for compiling the business receipts indices are mainly based on the Quarterly Survey of Service Industries conducted by the C&SD, supplemented by relevant data provided by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
A service domain differs from a service industry in that it comprises those economic activities which straddle different industries but are somehow related to a common theme. It may include all activities carried out by all establishments in a service industry that is closely related to the domain. For a service industry that is less closely related, however, only a portion of the establishments in the industry or even only part of the economic activities of the establishments is related to the domain. Taking the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain as an example, it includes all services of convention and exhibition organisers, short-term accommodation services and services of travel agents, and some (those involving visitors as customers) of the services of restaurants, retailers and transport operators.
The classification of service industries follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification Version 2.0, which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes.
More detailed statistics are given in the report "Quarterly Business Receipts Indices for Service Industries, First Quarter 2023". Users can browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080006&scode=520).
For enquiries about the business receipts indices, please contact the Business Services Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7267 or email: business-receipts@censtatd.gov.hk).
Ends/Friday, June 9, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:30
Issued at HKT 16:30
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