Customers dine at a restaurant in Hong Kong on April 14, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)

HONG KONG – The year-on-year value of total restaurant receipts in Hong Kong soared by 81.7 percent at HK$27.6 billion ($3.52 billion) in the first quarter of 2023 as domestic activities returned to normal and visitor arrivals rebounded, according to figures released Friday by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

Over the same period, the provisional estimate of the value of total purchases by restaurants increased by 73.8 percent to HK$9.0 billion, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed.

The total receipts of bars increased by 712.5 percent in value and 670.7 percent in volume, data from the Census and Statistics Department showed 

After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total restaurant receipts increased by 74.0 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with a year earlier.

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Analyzed by type of restaurant and comparing the first quarter of 2023 with the first quarter of 2022, total receipts of Chinese restaurants increased by 126.9 percent in value and 117.4 percent in volume. 

The total receipts of non-Chinese restaurants increased by 85.8 percent in value and 77.8 percent in volume. 

The data also showed that the total receipts of fast food shops increased by 38.6 percent in value and 32.6 volume while those of bars increased by 712.5 percent in value and 670.7 percent in volume. 

As for miscellaneous eating and drinking places, total receipts increased by 36.7 percent in value and 31.4 percent in volume.

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An HKSAR government spokesman said  the business of restaurants will continue to benefit from the recovery of private consumption and inbound tourism while the disbursement of a new round of consumption vouchers will also help.