Food and beverage industry in Hong Kong posts first annual decline in revenue since Sars, with 5.9 per cent drop
- Government spokesman says figure of HK$26 billion for the final three months last year was a sharp 14.3 per cent plunge from same period in 2018
- Restaurant owners lament gloomy business environment, with greater headwinds expected in protest-hit city now reeling from coronavirus outbreak
Hong Kong’s food and beverage industry has posted its first annual decline in earnings since the Sars outbreak in 2003, with greater headwinds expected amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Revenue for the restaurant sector fell 5.9 per cent to HK$112.5 billion (US$14.5 billion) in 2019 from the previous year, according to provisional data from the Census and Statistics Department released on Wednesday.
A government spokesman noted the figure of HK$26 billion for the final three months last year was a sharp 14.3 per cent plunge from the same period in 2018, marking the largest fall since 2003, when the city was hit by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
He said the ongoing anti-government protests, sparked by the now-withdrawn extradition bill, and “intensified violence” amid the civil unrest had caused severe disruption to the industry, warning of more uncertainty.
“The food and beverage sector has been facing an even more difficult business environment recently due to the threat of the novel coronavirus. The outlook down the road depends critically on how this situation will evolve,” he said.
By Wednesday, there were more than 27,000 confirmed cases in mainland China, with the global death toll at more than 550.
In Hong Kong, six new cases were reported over Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing the local tally to 21, including the city’s first fatality linked to the outbreak. Some of the recent cases reported had no travel history, signalling possible local transmission.
