MACAO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The business of restaurants and retailers in Macao was subdued in February amid the ongoing influence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the special administrative region's statistic service said here on Wednesday.

Photo: CGTN

The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 98 percent of the interviewed restaurants and similar establishments recording a year-on-year decline in revenue in February, an increase of 39 percentage points from January.

Meanwhile, only 2 percent of the interviewed establishments showed a year-on-year rise in revenue in February, down by 22 percentage points from January.

For retail trade, there were 85 percent of the interviewed retailers registering a year-on-year sales decrease in February, a rise of 37 percentage points over the preceding month.

There were only 13 percent of the interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year sales increase in February, a 22 percentage point drop from January.

The interviewed restaurants and retailers expected their business outlook to remain unfavourable in March, with 76 percent of the interviewed restaurants and similar establishments and 59 percent of the retailers anticipating a year-on-year decline of 50 percent or more in revenue. Enditem