Singapore's retail sales down 1.5% in March

Motor vehicle sales dropped due to the lower number of new and used cars sold.

Singapore's retail sales dipped by 1.5% in March 2018 compared to the previous year, due partially to lower motor vehicle sales, the Department of Statistics revealed. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales increased 2.6%.

According to an announcement, overall retail sales increased 2.3% over the previous month. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 1.1%.

The total retail sales value in March 2018 was estimated at $3.8b of which online retail sales contributed to about 4.1%.

Most industries recorded higher sales. Amongst these, the highest sales growth was registered by department stores at 9.1%. Sales increases were also reported for the food retailers (7.5%), medical goods & toiletries (6.2%), wearing apparel & footwear (5.0%), and watches & jewellery (5.0%) industries.

However, sales of motor vehicles dropped by 16.1% due to the lower number of new and used cars sold. Sales of computer & telecommunications equipment also declined by 8.0%.

Meanwhile, sales of food & beverage services rose 3.6% compared to last year and slipped 1.3% compared to the previous month. The total sales value of food & beverage services was at $716m.