Singapore retail sales flat in January

RETAIL sales edged up 0.1 per cent year-on-year in January this year, as sales of motor vehicles took a dive.

Stripping out the sales of vehicles, retail sales rose 9.2 per cent from a year earlier, data released by the Department of Statistics yesterday showed. Sales of motor vehicles fell 33.2 per cent year-on-year, but went up 2.5 per cent month-on-month.

On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales crept up 0.6 per cent in January and inched up 0.2 per cent after excluding sales of motor vehicles.