Singapore's retail sales rise 0.9 pct in June

Singapore's retail sales increased slightly by 0.9 percent in June on a year-on-year basis, mainly due to a spike in sales of motor vehicles, said the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) on Monday.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales droppd 1.5 percent in June. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales decreased 3 percent.

The total retail sales value in June was estimated at 3.6 billion Singapore dollars (2.7 billion U.S. dollars), similar to a year ago.

Compared to June 2015, retail sales of motor vehicles increased 17.1 percent in June last year. Similarly, retail sales of furniture & household equipment and medical goods & toiletries rose 5.8 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively, over the same period.

In contrast, retail sales of telecommunications apparatus & computers, petrol service stations and recreational goods decreased between 11.8 percent and 25.1 percent. Likewise, retail sales of optical goods & books, food & beverages, wearing apparel & footwear, department stores, supermarkets and watches & jewellery declined between 1.4 percent and 6.8 percent in June 2016.

The total sales value of food & beverage services in June this year was estimated at 649 million Singapore dollars (484 million U.S. dollars), higher than the 646 million Singapore dollars (482 million U.S. dollars) in June 2016.v

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. Endit