SINGAPORE'S retail sales rose 11.8 per cent year on year in January, following the previous month's 6.7 per cent rise, coming in as the fifth consecutive month of growth.

The improvement in retail sales performance in January 2022 was mainly attributed to increased spending prior to Chinese New Year (CNY) which was in early February, while pre-CNY spending in 2021 was mainly in February as CNY was in mid-February last year, according to a Department of Statistics (SingStat) release on Friday (Mar 4).

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, total retail sales were down 2.5 per cent. The total retail sales value was at S$4.2 billion, with online sales accounting for 12.9 per cent.