Retail sales climb 0.6% YoY in September

Month-on-month, however, sales fell by 1.6%.

Retail sales grew 0.6% YoY but fell 1.6% MoM in September, translating to a sales value of $3.9b.

Of the total sales value, 13.5% was from online sales.

Excluding motor vehicles, which saw a 1.3% YoY increase and a 7.7% MoM drop, sales would only increase by 0.5% YoY and post a wider decline of 0.8% MoM. 

Department of Statistics Singapore (Singstat) attributed the year-on-year uptick to increases in sales of the majority of industries.

Apart from motor vehicles, industries which recorded a year-on-year sales increase in September include Department Stores (+0.8% YoY); Food & Alcohol (+22.6% YoY); Cosmetics, Toiletries & Medical Goods (+10.3% YoY); Optical Goods & Books (+4.2% YoY); Supermarkets and Hypermarkets (+1.5% YoY) Wearing Apparel & Footwear (+8.1% YoY); and Mini-marts & Convenience Stores (+4.8% YoY); 

On the other hand, Recreational Goods (-2.6% YoY); Watches & Jewellery (-0.5% YoY); Petrol Service Stations (-0.5% YoY); Furniture & Household Equipment (-4.8% YoY); and Computer & Telecommunications Equipment (-12.7% YoY) recorded a decline in sales.