Singapore retail sales up 5.2% in July on surge in car sales

HELPED again by a massive increase in motor vehicle sales, Singapore's retail sales rose 5.2 per cent year-on-year in July, according to data released by the Department of Statistics on Tuesday.

Excluding the exuberant 40.6 per cent rise in car sales, retail sales would have increased by a marginal 0.8 per cent.

Total retail sales value in July was estimated at S$3.5 billion - higher than July 2014's S$3.3 billion.

Apart from car sales, only one other segment - watches & jewellery - experienced double-digit growth. Watches & jewellery sales rose 11.7 per cent year-on-year in July.

The third- and fourth-best performing areas were medical goods & toiletries (9.9 per cent) and telecommunications apparatus & computers (6.4 per cent).

The surge in motor vehicle sales helped to offset declines in other areas, such as petrol service stations (-16.4 per cent), furniture & household equipment (-5.5 per cent), and optical goods & books (-4.4 per cent).

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, retail sales decreased 2.2 per cent in July over the previous month.

Excluding motor vehicles, however - sales of these fell 23.1 per cent month-on-month - retail sales would have increased 2.6 per cent from June.