Singapore retail sales stabilise at below pre-Covid levels

Singapore’s retail sales rose 79.7 percent year on year in May to S$3.3 billion, rebounding from the low base during the 2020 “circuit breaker”, according to a Singapore Department of Statistics released on Monday.

This was up from April’s 54 percent jump and exceeded economists’ expectations of a 65 percent rise. Yet retail sales remain below pre-Covid levels, noted Singstat. May’s figures were also down 6.8 percent on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis.

Online sales accounted for 13.7 percent of May’s takings, up from 11.2 percent in April. Excluding motor vehicles, May’s retail sales were up 61.6 percent year on year, but down 5.2 percent on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis.

Due to “the low base in May 2020 when most physical stores were closed for the whole month”, all retail industries saw major year-on-year increases, except for two categories: supermarkets and hypermarkets, and mini-marts and convenience stores. These saw falls of 12.1 percent and 9.2 percent respectively.

The largest increases were seen for watches and jewelry, with May’s takings more than 20 times the year-ago figure; department stores; and wearing apparel and footwear.