Singapore’s retail sales down 8.6 percent in February

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the retail sales declined by 8.9 percent month on month in February, compared to the 0.2 percent increase in January, the department said on April 3rd.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales in February decreased by 10.2 percent year on year and 11.2 percent month on month. The estimated total retail sales value this February was about 3.1 billion SGD (2.16 billion USD). Of these, the proportion of online sales was 7.4 percent.

The authority attributed the retail sales decrease mainly to larger year-on-year declines in retail industries selling discretionary items, due to the decline in tourist arrivals and lower domestic consumption as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It also announced that the sales of food and beverage services decreased by 16.6 percent year on year and 18.3 percent month on month in February. The sales value was estimated at 732 million SGD, of which the proportion of online sales was 12.5 percent./.