Singapore’s retail sales growth surpasses expectations in September

Singapore’s retails sales rebounded on a seasonally adjusted basis year-on-year in the month of September. The retail sales rose 2 percent year-on-year, whereas excluding motor vehicles it rose 1.9 percent, noted Department of Statistics Singapore. This is above economists’ expectations of 1.8 percent rise and a reverse from a decline of 0.5 percent in August.

Sales at petrol service station grew 2 percent, whereas that of toiletries and medical goods rose by 2.1 percent. Meanwhile, food and beverages sales dropped 7.8 percent year-on-year, and that of supermarkets fell 4.1 percent.

On the other hand, on a sequential basis, the retail sales dropped 0.7 percent, whereas excluding motor vehicles it rose 0.7 percent. Economists had projected a rise of 0.3 percent. In the previous month, retail sales had dropped 0.8 percent in sequential terms.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales of motor vehicles, watches & jewellery, medical goods, optical goods & books, supermarkets and department stores dropped between 0.1 percent and 6.3 percent in the month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The total value of retail sales was estimated at SGD 3.5 billion, more than the SGD 3.4 billion recorded in September 2015.