Singapore's domestic wholesale trade down 22.6% in Q1
SINGAPORE'S domestic wholesale trade contracted 22.6 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2016, said the Department of Statistics (DOS) on Friday.
Excluding petroleum, however, the drop was less severe, with an 11.4 per cent decline.
"The decline in nominal domestic wholesale trade was due partly to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products. After adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade registered a smaller year-on-year decrease of 1.7 per cent," said DOS.
The worst-performing industries were ship chandlers & bunkering, petroleum & petroleum products, and general wholesale trade. These registered sharp double-digit declines of 39.9 per cent, 38.2 per cent and 34.3 per cent respectively.
Although Q1's decline in domestic wholesale trade was broad-based, three industries still posted growth - household equipment & furniture (up 12.5 per cent), transport equipment (up 8 per cent) and food, beverages & tobacco (up 1.4 per cent).
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Economy & Policy
Daily Debrief: What Happened Today (Apr 26)
Singapore must prepare for slower growth at higher costs: MAS
Outgoing Singapore, Indonesia leaders to hold their final retreat in Bogor on Apr 29
Singapore factory output reverses into negative territory in March, down 9.2%
Singapore’s growth should strengthen to ‘around potential rate’, output gap to close by end-2024: MAS
Gan Kim Yong visits US and Canada; to mark 20th anniversary of US-Singapore FTA