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Quarterly business receipts indices for service industries for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 1994
According to statistics released today (Tuesday) by the Census and Statistics Department, business receipts in the insurance industry in 1994 registered a strong growth of 24% in value terms when compared with a year ago. The increase was mainly attributable to the growth in general insurance business.
For 1994 as a whole, business receipts in the hotels industry increased by 16% in value terms over 1993. This was in line with the continued growth in tourist arrivals during the year.
Business receipts in the financing (except banking) and the communication industries also rose by 15% and 14%, respectively.
Meanwhile, increases in business receipts were also recorded in the following service industries wholesale (+14%); import/export (+13%); retail (+12%); and transport (+10%).
Business receipts in the banking industry however grew moderately by 5%.
Comparing the fourth quarter of 1994 with the same quarter of 1993, business receipts in the insurance and the import/export industries registered a strong growth in value terms of 24% and 23%, respectively.
Marked increases in business receipts were also registered in the following service industries: wholesale (+18%); transport (+17%); and hotels (+16%).
Concurrently, business receipts in the banking industry also showed a sharp pick-up (+11%), after having registered a small decline in the preceding quarter.
On the other hand, business receipts in the financing (except banking) industry dropped markedly by 28%, reflecting the sluggish performance in the stock market. Business receipts in the business services and the restaurants industries also decreased by 7% and 4% respectively.
Compared with the third quarter of 1994, and bearing in mind that this comparison may be affected by the seasonal factor, a marked increase of 32% was recorded in the hotels industry in the fourth quarter.