Singapore Retail Sales Rebound 1.3%

(RTTNews) - Singapore's retail sales expanded in January, largely led by higher sales demand for motor vehicles, preliminary data from the Department of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

Retail sales rose 1.3 percent year-on-year in January, reversing a 0.5 percent drop in December.

Sales excluding motor vehicles fell 2.1 percent from last year, versus a 2.8 percent decrease in the prior month.

There was a 37.3 percent jump in sales of motor vehicles from last year. Retailers in the food, alcohol, and watch and jewellery industries saw annual growths in sales of 8.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, sales of apparel and footwear declined 11.8 percent, and sales supermarkets and hypermarkets showed a decrease of 6.5 percent.

During January, the online sales proportion was 11.2 percent of the overall retail sales, lower than the 12.8 percent recorded a month ago.

On a monthly basis, retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in January, in contrast to a 0.1 percent increase in December.

The index for food and beverage services fell 5.6 percent year-on-year in January, following a 0.4 percent rise in the prior month.