Singapore retail sales decline steepens to 6.1% in January, due partly to CNY timing

THE decline in Singapore's retail sales continued to worsen in January, with sales value down 6.1 per cent year on year, figures from the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) showed on Friday.

This steepened from December's 3.3 per cent fall, which was in turn a worsening from November's improved figures.

January's steeper decline was due partly to high sales a year ago, when Chinese New Year was celebrated in January 2020, said SingStat. Chinese New Year fell in February this year.

The total retail sales value in January was S$3.8 billion, with online sales accounting for 10.3 per cent.

Excluding motor vehicles - where retail sales grew 10.3 per cent - the total value was S$3.2 billion, down 8.4 per cent year on year.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail sales fell 1.8 per cent, or 2.4 per cent excluding motor vehicles.

Supermarkets and hypermarkets, which had been among the industries with highest retail sales growth since the Covid-19 pandemic began, saw growth slow significantly at 7.8 per cent in January, down from 25.4 per cent growth in December.

Instead, the strongest-growing industries were furniture and household equipment (25.9 per cent) and computer and telecommunications equipment (24.8 per cent), which SingStat attributed to higher demand for household appliances and the launch of new mobile phones.

The only other category to see growth was that of recreational goods, up 7.3 per cent.

The greatest decline was for food and alcohol (-43.6 per cent). This was followed by department stores (-36.1 per cent), cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods (-31.8 per cent), and wearing apparel and footwear (-28.5 per cent), as these industries "continue to remain affected by low visitor arrivals", said SingStat.

Separately, food and beverage sales continued to decline, down 24.7 per cent year on year, which SingStat also partly attributed to Chinese New Year celebrations a year ago.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, food and beverage sales were down 6.5 per cent.

The total value of food and beverage sales was S$720 million, with online sales accounting for 22.1 per cent.

All industries saw year-on-year declines, with food caterers continuing to be hardest hit (-76.0 per cent), followed by restaurants (-30.2 per cent); cafes, food courts, and other eating places (-6.8 per cent); and fast-food outlets (-6.7 per cent).