Total receipts of the storage, communications, financing (including banking), insurance and business services industries amounted to $573.4 billion last year, a surge of 14% on 2002.

Fuelled by the brisk trading of the local stock market, total receipts of the financing (except banking) industry grew 29%.

The Census & Statistics Department said total receipts of the insurance industry rose 25%, supported mainly by continued growth in the life insurance business, while total receipts of the business services and storage industries rose 10% and 1%.

Total receipts of the communications industry fell 1%, while the banking industry showed virtually no change.

Owing to the special feature of business operations in the insurance and banking industries, gross surplus and value added of the two industries were not compiled.

Gross surplus grows

The gross surplus of the remaining four industries hit $132.1 billion, a surge of 46% over 2002.

The value added of these four industries taken together, which is a measure of their contribution to Hong Kong's gross domestic product, went up 6% over 2002 to $95.4 billion. Within this total, the value added of the financing (except banking), storage and business services industries grew 24%, 13% and 5%, while that of the communications industry dropped 8%.

Details of the statistics will be available in the Report on the 2003 Annual Survey of Storage, Communication, Financing, Insurance & Business Services and 2003 Annual Survey of Banks, Deposit-taking Companies, Restricted Licence Banks & Representative Offices of Foreign Banks to be published next month. It can be purchased online at the Statistical Bookstore.

For enquiries, contact the department's Business Services Statistics Section at 2894 8149 or by mail to business-services@censtatd.gov.hk.