Singapore retail sales down 0.6% in June, miss forecasts
This month’s figure is worse than private-sector economists’ median estimate of 3.8 per cent growth
SINGAPORE’S retail sales fell 0.6 per cent year on year in June, reversing from the 2.2 per cent growth in May.
Private-sector economists polled by Bloomberg had expected June’s retail sales to grow 3.8 per cent year on year.
On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales declined 3.7 per cent, reversing the previous month’s 2.4 per cent increase, Department of Statistics data on Monday (Aug 5) showed.
June’s total retail sales stood at S$3.8 billion. Online sales accounted for 12.1 per cent of this, compared with May’s 11.5 per cent.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 3.1 per cent from the year-ago period, as well as declined sequentially – down 2.9 per cent on a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis.
DBS economist Chua Han Teng attributed June’s soft retail sales performance to the increase in outbound travel during the school holidays.
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Singapore’s outbound travel by residents exceeded some one million that month, higher than the 969,000 travellers in the corresponding year-ago period, he noted.
In addition, recovery in Singapore’s tourism arrivals to pre-pandemic levels has been challenging, noted UOB associate economist Jester Koh, possibly due to rising preference for domestic tourism among Chinese tourists.
Singapore’s competitiveness as a tourism destination could also be weighed down by higher price levels compared to the other regional economies, he added.
Yet Chua remains optimistic that the momentum in retail sales could improve in the second half of the year, supported by a return of Chinese tourists during their summer break in July to August, as well as the Singapore Grand Prix in September.
Most retail sales categories recorded year-on-year declines in June, with optical goods and books (-12.5 per cent) and wearing apparel and footwear (-10.1 per cent) recording the biggest falls.
On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis, sales also declined for most retail sales categories, except for supermarkets and hypermarkets (0.5 per cent); petrol service stations (1.1 per cent) and recreational goods (1.9 per cent).
Sales of food and beverage (F&B) services rose 1.8 per cent year on year, extending the revised 3 per cent growth recorded the month prior.
Sequentially, F&B sales decreased 3.2 per cent on a monthly, seasonally adjusted basis, reversing from the previous month’s revised 2.2 per cent increase.
Most F&B categories logged year-on-year gains, with food caterers (19.3 per cent) posting the biggest increase.
This was followed by cafes, food courts and other eating places (2.5 per cent) and restaurants (0.2 per cent). The exception was fast-food outlets, which recorded a 4.9 per cent decline.
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