The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore has announced that Singapore's retail sales decreased by 5.7 per cent year on year in August, an improvement from the 8.5 per cent year-on-year decline recorded in July.
The improvement was due mainly to motor vehicles which saw strong demand for both new and used cars, the DOS said on Monday.
Excluding motor vehicles, Singapore's retail sales fell 8.4 per cent year on year in August, compared to the 7.7 per cent decline in July, it said.
Compared to the previous month, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 1.4 per cent in August. Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased marginally by 0.1 per cent.
The estimated total retail sales value in August was about 3.4 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.49 billion US dollars). Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 10.9 per cent, reports Xinhua.
DOS also announced that the sales of food and beverage services decreased by 28.6 per cent year on year in August, compared to the 25.4 per cent decline in July.
The larger decline was mainly attributed to food caterers, as food catering services for the majority of foreign worker dormitories were no longer required from August.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, the country’s sales of food and beverage services declined 3.4 per cent in August.
The sales value was estimated at 665 million Singapore dollars, of which the proportion of online sales hit an estimated 20.6 per cent in August.