Quarterly business receipts indices for service industries for fourth quarter of 2018 and whole year of 2018

     Business receipts in value terms of many major service industries showed increases of different magnitudes in the fourth quarter of 2018 when compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the provisional figures of business receipts indices released today (March 11) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).

     Comparing the fourth quarter of 2018 with the fourth quarter of 2017, a double-digit increase was recorded in business receipts of the warehousing and storage (+11.8%) industry.

     On the other hand, the real estate industry recorded a decrease of 9.5% in business receipts during the same period, followed by the courier (-5.0%) and information and communications (-4.5%) industries.

     Analysed by service domain, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain increased by 7.3% year-on-year during the same period, while those of the computer and information technology services domain also increased by 5.3% year-on-year.

     On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, business receipts in value terms of many major service industries recorded decreases of different magnitudes in the fourth quarter of 2018 when compared with the third quarter of 2018. In particular, business receipts of the real estate industry decreased by 10.8%. On the other hand, the courier industry registered an increase of 11.7% in business receipts during the same period.

     Comparing the fourth quarter of 2018 with the third quarter of 2018 and on a seasonally adjusted basis, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain increased by 2.6%, while those of the computer and information technology services domain also increased by 8.3%.

     For 2018 as a whole, almost all major service industries recorded year-on-year increases in business receipts. Double-digit increases were recorded in the warehousing and storage (+12.4%), accommodation services (+10.3%) and financing (except banking) (+10.3%) industries.

     Analysed by service domain, business receipts of the tourism, convention and exhibition services domain increased by 10.1%, while those of the computer and information technology services domain also increased by 3.3% during the same period.

     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 and the whole year of 2018, 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 fourth quarter and the whole year of 2018 will be released at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp70.jsp?subjectID=7&tableID=093&ID=0&productType=8) and relevant publications of the C&SD starting from April 18, 2019.

     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 hotels and travel agents, and some (those involving visitors as customers) but not all 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, Fourth Quarter 2018". Users can download this publication free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp70.jsp?productCode=B1080006).

     Members of the public who have enquiries about the business receipts indices may contact the Business Services Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7267 or email: business-receipts@censtatd.gov.hk).