Singapore retail sales inch up 2.7% YoY in October

Thanks to robust motor vehicle sales.

Retail sales edged up 2.7% YoY in October 2015, according to a report by the Department of Statistics.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales slipped 4.6%. The total retail sales value in October this year was estimated at $3.5b, up from October 2014’s $3.4b.

Motor vehicles retailers enjoyed a 61.8% spike in sales in October 2015 over October 2014, in line with increased volume of motor vehicle transactions. Retail sales of medical goods and toiletries also climbed 11.3%, while retail sales of supermarkets and department stores edged up 1.1% and 0.6% respectively.

Conversely, retail sales of telecommunications apparatus and computers, petrol service stations, recreational goods, food & beverages and optical goods & books saw pullbacks between 11.6% and 19.4% in October 2015. 

Retailers of watches and jewellery, furniture & household equipment, mini-marts & convenience stores and wearing apparel and footwear also registered lower sales of between 1.5% and 9.7% compared to October 2014.