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According to the results of the 2009 Annual Survey of Economic Activities - Transport, Storage and Courier Services Sector released today (November 29) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the transportation, storage and courier services sector's total receipts (comprising business receipts and other income) amounted to $386.9 billion in 2009, representing a decrease of 21.7% compared with 2008; on a per establishment basis, total receipts decreased by 23.0% compared with 2008 to $13.0 million in 2009.
Operating expenses and compensation of employees of the sector altogether amounted to $348.0 billion in 2009, representing a decrease of 24.5% compared with 2008; on a per establishment basis, they decreased by 25.8% compared with 2008 to $11.7 million in 2009.
Gross surplus of the sector, which is equal to total receipts less operating expenses and compensation of employees, increased by 17.0% over 2008 to $38.8 billion in 2009; on a per establishment basis, gross surplus increased from $1.1 million in 2008 to $1.3 million in 2009. Gross surplus accounted for 10.0% of total receipts in 2009, up by 3.3 percentage points over 2008.
Value added of the sector, which is a measure of its contribution to Hong Kong's Gross Domestic Product, increased by 3.0% over 2008 to $93.5 billion in 2009; on a per establishment basis, the value added was $3.2 million in 2009, which increased slightly by 1.2% over 2008.
According to the survey results, it was estimated that the sector comprised some 29 700 establishments and engaged about 218 400 persons, or an average of 7.4 persons per establishment, in 2009.
Within the transportation, storage and courier services sector, the four largest industry groupings in terms of value added in 2009 were (1) air transport and service activities incidental to air transportation, (2) land passenger transport, (3) other transportation support activities, and (4) service activities incidental to water transportation. They together accounted for 80.6% of the value added of the sector.
In the air transport and service activities incidental to air transportation industry, total receipts amounted to $91.3 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $78.6 billion in 2009. Gross surplus rebounded from -$0.7 billion in 2008 to $12.7 billion in 2009, accounting for 13.9% of total receipts in 2009. Value added increased significantly by 69.2% over 2008 to $29.8 billion.
In the land passenger transport industry, total receipts amounted to $36.7 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $25.7 billion in 2009. Gross surplus increased from $9.3 billion in 2008 to $11.0 billion in 2009, accounting for 29.9% of total receipts in 2009. Value added increased by 4.9% over 2008 to $22.5 billion.
In the other transportation support activities industry which comprised mainly cargo forwarders and shipbrokers, total receipts amounted to $120.0 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $114.6 billion in 2009. Gross surplus decreased from $6.9 billion in 2008 to $5.4 billion in 2009, accounting for 4.5% of total receipts in 2009. Value added decreased by 11.1% compared with 2008 to $14.7 billion.
In the service activities incidental to water transportation industry which included container terminal operators, mid-stream operators as well as operators engaged in container freight stations and vanning and devanning, total receipts amounted to $14.2 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $8.8 billion in 2009. Gross surplus decreased from $5.8 billion in 2008 to $5.4 billion in 2009, accounting for 38.0% of total receipts in 2009. Value added decreased by 9.0% compared with 2008 to $8.4 billion.
Selected statistics for the transportation, storage and courier services sector, with breakdowns by industry grouping, are shown in the attached table.
More detailed survey results on the transportation, storage and courier services sector will be given in the report "Key Statistics on Business Performance and Operating Characteristics of the Transportation, Storage and Courier Services Sector in 2009". Users can download this report (in PDF format) free of charge at the website of C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/products_and_services/products/publications/index.jsp) as from end-December 2010.
The classification of industries follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC), which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes. Upon the implementation of the HSIC Version 2.0 by the C&SD in October 2008, the new classification has been adopted in compiling statistics on the business performance and operating characteristics of various sectors starting from the reference year of 2009. The series of the statistics on the business performance and operating characteristics of various sectors under the HSIC Version 2.0 has also been backcasted to the reference year of 2005 to facilitate comparison.
For enquiries about the key statistics on business performance and operating characteristics of the transportation, storage and courier services sector, please contact the Logistics and Producer Prices Statistics Section of the C&SD at telephone 2802 1273 or email transport@censtatd.gov.hk.
Ends/Monday, November 29, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:36
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