SINGAPORE'S retail sales in June extended May's rebound from the low base during last year's "circuit breaker", although momentum has eased, according to the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) on Thursday.

Total retail sales grew 25.8 per cent year on year, slowing from the 79.9 per cent expansion seen in May. Singapore's partial lockdown was in place for the whole of May but restrictions began lifting in late-June.

On a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month basis, retail sales rose 1.8 per cent in June.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 19 per cent year on year and 0.4 per cent sequentially.

Even so, retail sales value, estimated to be about S$3.3 billion in June, continued to be below pre-Covid-19 levels, SingStat said. Of this amount, online retail sales made up an estimated 15.4 per cent, compared with May's 13.8 per cent.

Online retail sales of the computer and telecommunications equipment made up 57.5 per cent of the total sales within the industry, while the respective figure was 32.8 per cent for furniture and household equipment, and 14.4 per cent for supermarkets and hypermarkets.

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Overall, most retail industries, except supermarkets and hypermarkets, mini-marts and convenience stores and cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods, recorded large year-on-year increases. SingStat said this was due to the low base last year when physical stores were closed until June 18, 2020.

Motor vehicles saw the biggest gains at 80.6 per cent year on year. This is followed by watches and jewellery at 78.4 per cent and department stores at 61.8 per cent.

Month on month, the performance was mixed, with about half the categories seeing small to marginal declines.

Computer and telecommunications equipment sales saw a 4.9 per cent sequential dip, followed by cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods at 3.9 per cent, and wearing apparel and footwear at 2.7 per cent.

However, motor vehicle sales grew 10.8 per cent month on month. In second place was furniture and household equipment at 6.4 per cent, followed by watches and jewellery at 5.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, total food and beverage (F&B) services saw sales grow 7.3 per cent to S$529 million in June, easing from the 46.4 per cent increase in May.

"Although dine-in restrictions were stricter this year compared to June last year, food & beverage sales continued to register a year-on-year growth in June 2021, due to higher demand for food deliveries," SingStat said.

The ban on dining-in was lifted on June 21 this year for groups of two, but last year, up to five were allowed to dine in from June 19.

Online F&B sales made up an estimated 47.7 per cent of total sales in June, up from 38.7 per cent in the previous month.

Food caterers were the worst hit, with a 44.5 per cent year-on-year drop in sales. SingStat said this was due to a higher demand for catered meals from foreign worker dormitories in June last year.

Restaurant takings fell 7.3 per cent year on year, but turnover tumbled 32.8 per cent month on month.

Fast-food outlets were the only category that saw growth both year on year and month on month, at 23 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively.