The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (September 10) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for August 2024.
The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs decreased from 41.8 in July 2024 in the contractionary zone to 41.3 in August 2024, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. September 2024) outlook DI on business receipts was 45.4. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for some surveyed sectors dropped in August 2024 as compared with previous month, particularly for the logistics (from 40.3 to 35.9) and import and export trades (from 45.1 to 42.3). On the other hand, the current DIs on business receipts for the restaurants, retail trade, and business services increased in August 2024 as compared with previous month.
The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades decreased from 44.8 in July 2024 to 43.4 in August 2024, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. September 2024) was 46.4.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that overall business sentiment among SMEs weakened slightly in August, while the situation for different sectors varied. Yet, the overall expectations on the business situation in one month’s time remained stable. The overall employment situation saw some improvement.
The spokesman added that while business sentiment would continue to be affected by various uncertainties in the external environment, the Central Government's various measures benefitting Hong Kong and continued growth of the local economy should provide support. 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.
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 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).
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