Sales across Taiwan’s food and beverage sector nosedived 22.8 percent year-on-year to NT$47.9 billion (US$1.59 billion) last month, the largest decline in 20 years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
One of the first victims of the COVID-19 outbreak, the sector has posted double-digit annual declines in sales for three months in a row.
“Restaurants ... took the biggest hit, as the strict anti-epidemic measures implemented have had a notable impact [on revenue],” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) told a news conference in Taipei, referring to seating schemes spacing diners further apart. “Consumers are also less willing to eat out for fear of catching the virus.”
Photo: CNA
The government’s ban on international visitors, which has been in place since March, also dealt a heavy blow to restaurant sales, she said.
Total restaurant sales last month fell 23 percent year-on-year to NT$38.9 billion, ministry data showed. Tea stalls’ sales faced a similar, albeit less severe, decline, contracting 16.6 percent year-on-year to NT$6.6 billion.
With the airline sector practically at a standstill amid a global lockdown, domestic catering services reported a 32.3 percent drop in sales to NT$2.5 billion.
“Hopefully the [food and beverage] sector will soon recover some momentum as the coronavirus situation comes under control,” Wang said.
She forecast an 8 to 15 percent annual decline in food and beverage sales for this month, after taking into account sales linked to Mother’s Day.
The retail sector posted a 10.2 percent year-on-year decrease in sales to NT$277.8 billion, the biggest decline in more than 11 years, ministry data showed.
The lackluster figure was partly due to dwindling sales of general merchandise, which fell 8.5 percent to NT$94.1 billion, as department store sales slumped nationwide.
The drop in international crude oil prices also drove sales of petroleum and chemical products down 39.9 percent year-on-year to NT$13.3 billion, the data showed.
“Most industries [in the retail sector] suffered declines [in sales] last month, with the exception of the e-commerce industry, which grew 19.1 percent year-on-year to a record high of NT$18.3 billion,” Wang said.
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