Singapore retail sales up 2.2% in October with mixed performance across industries
Of the 14 sectors, eight report year-on-year growth, with motor vehicles showing the strongest figures
SINGAPORE’S retail sales grew 2.2 per cent on year in October, picking up from the 1.9 per cent growth recorded in the month before, based on Department of Statistics (Singstat) data released on Thursday (Dec 5).
This was as performance was mixed within the sector, with motor vehicles being the strongest performer.
This was unsurprising, said DBS economist Chua Han Teng, noting that it has held the top spot among the categories since April 2024.
But the latest reading was slightly lower than the median forecast of 2.4 per cent growth in a Bloomberg poll of private-sector economists.
On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales rose 0.1 per cent, slipping from the 0.4 per cent expansion in September.
October’s estimated total retail sales value was S$4.1 billion, with online sales accounting for 12.7 per cent.
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Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales expanded 0.3 per cent from the year-ago period, reversing from September’s 1.5 per cent drop.
It was up more sequentially – growing 1.2 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, against the month before’s 0.3 per cent fall.
With the year-on-year uptick coming early in the fourth quarter, Chua is hopeful that the positive momentum will be sustained until the end of the year, partly supported by favourable base effects.
“The festive period during the final months of the year could boost retail spending,” he added, noting generally positive retail business outlooks as well as domestic spending due to government support measures such as the Assurance Package payouts.
Still, more outbound tourism during the school holidays amid the strong Singapore dollar would temper the pace of overall increment in retail sales, he said.
“Resident spending abroad is set to recover to the pre-pandemic 2019 level in full-year 2024,” Chua said.
Year on year, eight retail sales categories grew in October.
Growth in the motor vehicles industry corresponded to a higher Certificate of Entitlement quota, noted Singstat.
On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, sales growth was recorded in more than half – nine out of 14 – of the categories above.
Meanwhile, in a separate index, sales of food and beverage (F&B) services climbed 3.9 per cent on year in October, accelerating from the 1.6 per cent increase posted in the preceding month. It was up 1.4 per cent on a monthly, seasonally adjusted basis.
On the year, growth was recorded across most F&B segments:
- Restaurants (4.8 per cent)
- Food caterers (17.2 per cent)
- Cafes, food courts and other eating places (2 per cent)
Singstat said that the strong growth in food caterers’ sales was driven by in-flight and event-catering sales.
But turnover for fast-food outlets shrank, down 1.5 per cent on a yearly basis.
All four categories, however, were up on a seasonally adjusted, month-on-month basis.
F&B services receipts amounted to S$997 million, with online sales accounting for 24.4 per cent.
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