Singapore's retail sales fall 5.7 pct on year in August

The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore announced on Monday that Singapore's retail sales decreased by 5.7 percent year on year in August, an improvement from the 8.5 percent year-on-year decline recorded in July.

The improvement was due mainly to motor vehicles which saw strong demand for both new and used cars. Excluding motor vehicles, Singapore's retail sales fell 8.4 percent year on year in August, compared to the 7.7 percent decline in July.

Compared to the previous month, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 1.4 percent in August. Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased marginally by 0.1 percent.

The estimated total retail sales value in August was about 3.4 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.49 billion U.S. dollars). Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 10.9 percent.

DOS also announced that the sales of food and beverage services decreased by 28.6 percent year on year in August, compared to the 25.4 percent decline in July. The larger decline was mainly attributed to food caterers, as food catering services for the majority of foreign worker dormitories were no longer required from August. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore's sales of food and beverage services declined 3.4 percent in August. The sales value was estimated at 665 million Singapore dollars, of which the proportion of online sales hit an estimated 20.6 percent in August.