SMEs Show Slight Improvement in Business Sentiment, Reports Census and Statistics Department

Results of monthly survey on business situation of small and medium-sized enterprises for October 2024

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (November 11) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for October 2024.

The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs increased from 41.6 in September 2024 in the contractionary zone to 42.3 in October 2024, whereas the one-month’s ahead (i.e. November 2024) outlook DI on business receipts was 47.3. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts, despite below the 50-mark, rose in October 2024 as compared with previous month for many surveyed sectors, particularly for the real estate (from 44.9 to 46.3) and retail trade (from 38.4 to 39.8).

The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades increased from 44.5 in September 2024 to 44.7 in October 2024, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. November 2024) was 47.6.

Commentary

A Government spokesman said that overall business sentiment among SMEs and their expectations on the business situation in one month's time both improved slightly in October. The overall employment situation also improved further.

The spokesman added that the gradually easing financial conditions, the Central Government's latest policy measures for supporting the Mainland economy as well as its various measures benefitting Hong Kong should bode well for business sentiment, though increased global economic uncertainties and trade conflicts would pose negative impacts. 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).

Remarks by STL at media session

​Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, at a media session after attending a radio programme today (December 7):

Reporter: How can upcoming railway transit systems integrate new technology and provide(services)for citizens? Given that upcoming railways will not adopt heavy rail systems, what is the advantage? Has the contractor been settled yet? And as the Kai Tak Sports Park will undergo a stress test of 12 000 people tomorrow, how confident is the Bureau towards dispersing people smoothly? Thank you.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics: For the second question about the commissioning of the Kai Tak Sports Park, my Bureau andthe relevant departments will participate actively in thevarious stress tests. In fact, there will be one tomorrow, and that will involve a total number of 12 000 people.We will be participating in it. Apart from us,thevarious public transport operators, including MTR, various buses, and also taxis, will also be involved. We hope that throughthevarious stress tests, we will step up our mobilisation, our preparation, and make ourselves better prepared for different scenarios, such that when theSportsPark is commissioned, we will haveabetter and holistic preparation to cater for different scenarios.It is, after all, a very significant milestone in Hong Kong's tourism development. We will give our best in order to make this a success, and also to give the best service for our locals and also for our visitors.

As far as the railway infrastructure is concerned, surely we are engaging and planning for a number of major projects.I think the infrastructure projects did provide a very good opportunity for Hong Kong's local development as well as further development of our economy. We will work very hard and adopt a double innovation approach. That is, we will adopt innovation in technology as well as an innovative mindset in the policy and procedural framework in order to catch up with the time we have lost as well as to conduct the project expeditiously.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)