Results of monthly survey on business situation of small and medium-sized enterprises for December 2024
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (January 10) the results of the Monthly Survey on Business Situation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) for December 2024.
The current diffusion index (DI) on business receipts amongst SMEs increased from 41.9 in November 2024 in the contractionary zone to 43.9 in December 2024, whereas the one-month's ahead (i.e. January 2025) outlook DI on business receipts was 47.0. Analysed by sector, the current DIs on business receipts for majority of the surveyed sectors rose in December 2024 as compared with previous month, particularly for the import and export trades (from 43.1 to 45.7), retail trade (from 37.7 to 40.2) and business services (from 45.9 to 48.4).
The current DI on new orders for the import and export trades increased from 45.1 in November 2024 to 46.5 in December 2024, whereas the outlook DI on new orders in one month's time (i.e. January 2025) was 48.0.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that overall business sentiment among SMEs improved in December, with the current diffusion indices for most surveyed sectors recording increases. Expectations on the business situation in one month’s time also turned better. Meanwhile, the overall employment situation saw some improvement.
The spokesman added that the various measures introduced by the Central Government to boost the Mainland economy and benefit Hong Kong, together with the SAR Government's various initiatives to boost market sentiment, should bode well for business sentiment. Yet, increased global economic uncertainties, in particular the escalation of trade conflicts, would pose pressures on the business environment. 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).
