Retailers in Macao are continuing to struggle, with government data showing a year-on-year drop of 9.2 percent in sales last November – the latest month for which figures have been made available.
According to figures from the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC), watch and jewellery retailers were hit especially hard, with takings plummeting by 24 percent in comparison to November 2023.
This was followed by cosmetics boutiques as well as retailers of leather goods and accessories, who recorded slumps of 12.8 percent and 11.2 percent respectively.
In contrast, businesses selling motor vehicles reported a brisk increase of 26.9 percent in their sales year-on-year. The rise coincides with easier travel to the mainland for Macao motorists – itself a bad sign for the city’s retailers, as it means an even greater exodus of local customers.
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When analysed on a month-on-month basis, all categories of retailers experienced a decline in sales in November, with the exception of motor vehicle businesses and department stores, which experienced a sales increase of 17 percent and 7.9 percent respectively.
The food and beverage sector meanwhile saw a small bump in business volume in November, with overall takings growing by 1.9 percent year-on-year.
Japanese and Korean restaurants witnessed the greatest year-on-year growth, with a 12.6 percent rise. This was followed by Western restaurants with 4 percent growth and the city’s cheapest restaurants (defined as “local style cafes, congee and noodle shops”), where takings grew by 2.5 percent.
Chinese restaurants, however, witnessed a slight drop of 0.2 percent year-on-year.
When compared to the receipts from October, the overall sales for restaurants in November fell by 4.2 percent. Chinese restaurants experienced the sharpest drop, with a month-on-month decline of 4.3 percent.
