Singapore retail sales growth cools to 0.6% in September
SINGAPORE – Takings at the till eked out growth in September, that slowed notably from August as shoppers stayed away from buying big-ticket items.
September’s retail sales rose 0.6 per cent year on year, following a revised 4.2 per cent increase in August.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 0.5 per cent, extending the 4 per cent growth recorded in August, according to figures released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Friday.
Month on month and seasonally adjusted, retail sales turned negative – dropping 1.6 per cent in September from August. Excluding auto sales, they declined 0.8 per cent.
The biggest year-on-year increases came from food and alcohol (22.6 per cent) and cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods (10.3 per cent).
This was mainly driven by higher demand for alcoholic products – including those sold in duty free shops – as well as cosmetics respectively. Similarly, the sales of wearing apparel and footwear rose 8.1 per cent.
In contrast, retailers of more expensive items, namely computer and telecommunications equipment and furniture and household equipment, saw sales drop 12.7 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively in September.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, motor vehicles sales fell 7.7 per cent from August. Similarly, retailers of watches and jewellery and furniture and household equipment saw declines in sales of 4.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.
Conversely, month-on-month sales of petrol service stations rose 4.7 per cent, while that of cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods climbed 4.5 per cent.
The food and beverage sector held up better than shop retailers in September. Its total sales rose 6.9 per cent year on year, easing from 8.6 per cent increase in August.
Food caterers saw their takings swell by 24.1 per cent, while sales at restaurants, fast-food outlets rose by 3.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively. The sales of cafes, foodcourts and other eating places increased 7.2 per cent.