Singapore domestic wholesale trade slumps in Q1

SINGAPORE'S domestic wholesale trade shrank 22.6 per cent in January through March from the same period last year, with the decline led by petroleum and petroleum products.

Excluding petroleum, the year-on-year decline was 11.4 per cent, figures released by the Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Friday showed.

The decline in the nominal value of domestic wholesale trade was due partly to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products, SingStat said, noting that after adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade posted a smaller year-on-year drop of 1.7 per cent.

Foreign wholesale trade also slumped 17.4 per cent (including petroleum) and 13.2 per cent (excluding petroleum) over the same period.

After adjusting for price changes, overall foreign wholesale trade grew 4 per cent from the previous year.