Singapore Retail sales up 7.5% in January as car sales surge

Singapore’s retail sales increased 7.5 percent in January on a year-on-year basis, mainly due to a spike in sales of motor vehicles, said the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) on Tuesday.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales dropped 1.2 percent in January. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales decreased 0.5 percent.

The total retail sales value in January was estimated at 4.1 billion Singapore dollars (3 billion U.S. dollars), higher than 3.8 billion Singapore dollars (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) in January in 2015.

Compared to January 2015, retailers of motor vehicles, medical goods and toiletries and department stores recorded increases of between 11.9 percent and 50.9 percent in sales in January 2016. Similarly, retail sales of supermarkets, mini-marts and convenience stores, wearing apparel and footwear and optical goods and books rose between 1.4 percent and 7.9 percent.

In contrast, retail sales of telecommunications apparatus and computers decreased 30.5 percent in January 2016 over January 2015. Retail sales of watches and jewellery, food and beverages, petrol service stations, recreational goods and furniture and household equipment also declined between 0.8 percent and 8.4 percent over the same period.

The total sales value of food and beverage services in January 2016 was estimated at 685 million Singapore dollars (500 million U.S. dollars), lower than the 689 million Singapore dollars (503 million U.S. dollars) in January 2015.

The Retail Sales Index and the Food and Beverage Services Index measure the short-term performance of retail and Food and Beverage service industries based on their sales records. The sales figures exclude taxes.