Accommodation industry's business receipts fell 19.1% in Q3

Business receipts declined across nine industries.

The accommodation services industry posted the biggest drop in the total value of business receipts in Q3 by 19.1% YoY, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). On a QoQ SA basis, it crashed 20.4%.

It is followed by the retail sector, which slipped 17.5%. Wholesale and food services industries also posted double-digit declines of 12.2% and 11.7% respectively.

The insurance industry saw the highest growth in business receipts at 6.8% over the same period. It is followed by the banking (5.5%) and courier (5.0%) industries.

Analysed by service domain, business receipts of tourism, convention and exhibition services crashed 27.8% YoY, the largest since the 2003 SARS epidemic. Those of the computer and information technology services domain fell 8.2% YoY.

On a QoQ SA basis, business receipts fell for 13 in 15 industries. Double-digit declines were recorded in accommodation services (20.4%), retail (15.1%), real estate (14.0%) and food services (10.6%) industries. The banking industry saw a 1.4% growth, whilst the professional, scientific and technical services edged up 0.3%.

For services domain, receipts from tourism, convention and exhibition services slumped 29.7%, whilst those of the computer and information technology services dipped 0.8%.

A government spokesperson attributed the decline in many services industries to an economic downturn in Q3 as the city is hit by social unrest.