Singapore retail sales up 0.4% in December

SINGAPORE'S retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in December 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, mainly due to higher sales of medical goods & toiletries.

Stripping out sales of motor vehicles, retail sales went up by 0.3 per cent, the Department of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Compared to November, the seasonally adjusted retail sales figure decreased by 1.9 per cent in December. Excluding motor vehicles, they rose 0.7 per cent.

Notably, retailers of medical goods & toiletries reported 9.9 per cent increase in sales year on year. Surprisingly, motor vehicle sales rose only 0.9 per cent year on year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, motor vehicles sales recorded a dip of 11.9 per cent compared to November. Retail sales of computer & telecommunications equipment and department stores also fell 6.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively over the same period.

The total retail sales value was estimated to be S$4.2 billion, similar to that in December 2015.