Singapore's retail sales decline 13.3 pct in March

Source: Xinhua | 2020-05-06

The Department of Statistics of Singapore said on Tuesday that Singapore's retail sales decreased by 13.3 percent year-on-year in March, compared to the 8.4 percent decrease in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the retail sales dropped 1.3 percent month-on-month in March, compared to a revised 8.4-percent decrease in February.

Excluding motor vehicles, Singapore's retail sales in March declined 9.7 percent year-on-year but grew 1.6 percent month-on-month. The estimated total retail sales value this March was about 3.3 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.33 billion U.S. dollars). Of these, the proportion of online sales was 8.5 percent.

The authority attributed the retail sales decrease mainly to larger year-on-year declines in retail industries selling discretionary items, due to weaker domestic consumption and fewer tourist arrivals as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It also announced that the sales of food and beverage services plunged 23.7 percent year-on-year and 9.6 percent month-on-month in March. The sales value was estimated at 678 million Singapore dollars, of which the proportion of online sales was 15.6 percent.