Singapore's retail sales grow 10.4 per cent on year in October

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose by 14.3 per cent in October. - The Straits Times/ANN

SINGAPORE, Dec 5 (Xinhua): The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore announced on Monday that the country's retail sales grew by 10.4 per cent year on year in October, following the 11.3 per cent year-on-year increase recorded in the previous month.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales grew by 14.3 percent in October, compared to the 16.9 per cent growth in September.

Within the retail trade sector, most industries recorded growth year on year in sales in October.

The wearing apparel and footwear industry recorded an increase of 52.9 percent, due mainly to higher demand for bags and footwear, according to the DOS.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore's retail sales inched up by 0.1 per cent in October over the previous month. In September, the retail sales grew by 3.2 percent month on month.

The estimated total value of retail sales this October was about 4 billion Singapore dollars (2.96 billion U.S. dollars). Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 13 per cent, compared to 13.9 per cent recorded in September.

The DOS also reported that the sales of food and beverage services grew by 36.9 percent year on year in October, extending the 29.6 percent increase in the previous month. The large growth in sales was attributed to the low base in October 2021.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore's sales of food and beverage services rose by 1 percent month on month in October, compared to the 0.8 percent rise in September.

The sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at 949 million Singapore dollars (US$701 million) in October, of which the proportion of online sales was estimated at 24.1 percent, lower than 24.3 percent recorded in September. - Xinhua