渣打香港中小企领先营商指数报告2025年第三季

Quarter3, 2025 About the Index Methodology Sample Distribution Sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, the“Standard Chartered Hong Kong SME Leading Business Index”(Standard Chartered SME Index) is a forward-looking survey onlocalSMEs’confidence on the recent business environment.HKPC’s professional team interviews no less than 800 local SMEs’top managementfrom the Manufacturing,Construction,Import/Export TradeandWholesale, Retail,Transportation, Storage andCourier Services,Accommodation and Food Services, Informationand Communications, Financing and Insurance, Professional andBusiness Services,RealEstate,as well asSocial and PersonalServicesevery quarter.The surveycovers SMEs’perception oftheir“BusinessCondition”,“Profit Margin”,“Investment Sentiment”,“Recruitment Sentiment”, and “Global Economy”inthisquarter. Datawerecollected from824SMEs using publicly available SMEdirectories and HKSAR Census database.The sample wasstratified by the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC)version 2.0, and based on the number of SME establishments inHong Kong.The stratified sample coverselevencategories namely:1) Manufacturing,2) Construction, 3) Import / Export TradeandWholesale,4)Retail,5)Transportation,Storage and CourierServices, 6) Accommodation and Food Services, 7) Information andCommunications, 8) Financing and Insurance, 9) Professional andBusiness Services, 10) Real Estate,and11) Social and PersonalServices. Index Calculation Standard Chartered SME Index is a composite index based on thediffusion indices of the five surveyed areas with the followingweights: Respondents indicated the change of business sentiments in threeways: increase,no change or decline.Each diffusion index iscalculated using the following formula: Increase%x100 +No Change%x50 +Decline%x0 Diffusionindices,which have been broadly used as leadingindicators,are convenient summary measures indicating theprevailing direction ofchange in business sentiments.An indexabove the 50neutral levelgenerally indicates optimistic businesssentiment, while that below 50neutral levelindicates pessimisticbusiness sentiment.A reading at 50neutral levelindicates neutralbusiness sentiment. Key Findings Summary The53rd survey of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong SMELeadingBusiness Index was conducted in July 2025.Topmanagement of824SMEs were surveyed to gauge their views onthe outlook of the overall business environment inQ32025andtoexplore Hong Kong SMEs’ views and challenges regarding “GoGlobal”. TheQ32025“StandardChartered SMEIndex”fellby 3.3 to 40.5 Driven mainly by the “Business Condition” (36.6,-5.0) and“Profit Margin” (34.1,-5.0) sub-indices, the Overall Index fellslightly, reflecting a weakened confidence among local SMEson their business turnover this quarter; “GlobalEconomy”sub-index has declined for threeconsecutive quarters and accumulated a drop of 15.6 sincethefourth quarter(Q4)of 2024.The global economicslowdown has been driven by multiple factors, since Q4 2024,shifts in U.S. monetary policy andstimulus measures havefailed to fully revive demand, while newly imposed U.S. tariffsthisyear have further dampened global trade flows.Concurrently,market volatility has driven up businessoperating costs, intensifying pressure on SMEs; In terms of the 11 industry indices, key industries maintainedstable development, with “Construction” (42.3, +2.6) and“Accommodation and Food Services” (42.9, +1.7) recordingincreases.“Manufacturing” industry performed particularlywell this quarter, with its global economy sub-index rising by1.4 points and investment sentiment increasing by 3.5 pointsto its highestlevel in nearly seven years, showing thatcompanieswere more willing to allocate resources forbusiness expansion compared to the past,while also placinggreateremphasis on R&D investment.In addition,therecruitment sentimentof the “Professional and BusinessServices” rose by 2.9 points, and the profit margin improvedby 1.2 points, reflecting sustained growth in demand for high-value-added services; In terms of overall investment trends, 92% of surveyed SMEsintended to maintain or increase their investment this quarter,with 5% specifically stating that they would increase theirinvestment. Most SMEs expected to focus their investmentondigital transformation,such as“IT System”,“OnlineMarketing Promotion”, “Training Related to E-commerce orDigital Technology”, “Facilities and Equipment” and “OverallStaffTraining”,indicating that companies were activelyenhancing their long-term competitiveness; Regarding the changes in cost components,the proportion ofSMEs expecting raw materials cost to increase dropped to afive-quarter low of 47%, while the pressure to increase staffsalary also eased, falling by 1 percentage point to 19%,creatinga more favourable environment for businessdevelopment. On the other hand, only 17% of SMEs plannedto increase the price of their products or services, which is onpar with the previous quarter. Key Find