People walk in Marina Bay of Singapore (Photo: AFP/VNA) Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s retail sales grew by 10.4% year on year in October, lower than the 11.3% increase recorded in the previous month, according to data released by the country’s Department of Statistics on December 6.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales in Singapore increased by 14.3% in October compared to the growth of 16.9% in September.
Total retail sales in October are about 4 billion SGD (about 2.96 billion USD), of which online retail sales accounted for 13%. In September, online retail sales accounted for 13.9%.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, October retail sales marked a month-on-month increase of 0.1%.
Almost all industries recorded an increase in sales in October compared to those of the same period last year. For example, the apparel and footwear industry increased 52.9%, just behind the food and alcohol sales with a 61% rise.
Meanwhile, motor vehicle sales in October fell 15.8% compared to that of the same period last year.
In September, motor vehicle sales fell 20.2%, which made the industry the biggest loser out of the 14 industries.
The sales of food and beverage services grew by 36.9% year on year in October while the previous month saw a growth of 29.6%.
The high growth in sales was attributed to the low base in October 2021 when dining out was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at 949 million SGD (701 million USD) in October, of which the proportion of online sales was estimated at 24.1%./.
