The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (April 14) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for March 2026.

     The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs decreased from 45.3 in February 2026 in the contractionary zone to 44.3 in March 2026, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. April 2026) outlook DI on business receipts was 46.9. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for majority of the surveyed sectors dropped in March 2026 as compared with previous month, particularly for the logistics (from 42.9 to 35.7) and import and export trades (from 47.4 to 46.3).

     The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades decreased from 47.1 in February 2026 to 46.8 in March 2026, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. April 2026) was 47.6.

Commentary

     A Government spokesman said that business sentiment amongst SMEs eased somewhat in March, reflecting the heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The current and outlook diffusion indices on business receipts for SMEs showed some declines from the near two-year highs in the preceding month. Nevertheless, the overall employment situation still performed steadily, with the corresponding index improving slightly over the preceding month.

     Looking ahead, the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East will likely continue to influence local business sentiment, though the sustained expansion of the economy will provide support. The Government has introduced short-term targeted measures to address the recent increase in fuel prices, and will continue to closely monitor the evolving situation.

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 companies 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 companies in Hong Kong, users may refer to the publication entitled "Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey" released by the C&SD.

     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 companies 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 around 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 browse and 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/Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:30

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