SINGAPORE: Retail sales in Singapore rose 5.3 per cent in November from the previous year, with nearly all sectors seeing an uptick, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics (Singstat) on Friday (Jan 12).
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales increased 4.7 per cent compared to November 2016. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales for November rose 5.1 per cent and was up 2.9 per cent excluding motor vehicles.
Sales of computer and telecommunications equipment saw the highest year-on-year increase in sales, rising 16.6 per cent.
Sales of supermarkets, petrol service stations, recreational goods, motor vehicles, furniture and household equipment, medical goods and toiletries, department stores, food retailers, wearing apparel and footwear, and watches and jewellery were up as well, rising between 1.7 and 9.7 per cent.
The only two sectors to see a year-on-year decrease in sales were minimarts and convenience stores, which fell 1 per cent, and optical goods and books, which decreased 4.2 per cent.
The total retail sales value was estimated at S$3.8 billion, up from S$3.6 billion in the same period last year.
(Source: Singstat)
Sales of food and beverage services fell 0.1 per cent compared to a year ago, with total sales value estimated at S$692 million, higher than the S$678 million in November 2016.
The Retail Sales Index and the Food and Beverage Services Index measure the short-term performance of retail and F&B service industries based on their sales records. The sales figures exclude taxes such as GST and COE.
