Singapore retail sales rise 1.1% in July, less than expected

SINGAPORE – Retail sales in Singapore rose for the sixth consecutive month in July, but the pace picked up only slightly from June’s revised 1 per cent growth and came in lower than forecast.

Last month’s takings at the till increased 1.1 per cent year on year, less than the median 2.1 per cent rise expected by analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

It was also down from the 1.8 per cent growth in May and the high of 12.5 per cent in February.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose just 0.4 per cent year on year, cooling from the 2.5 per cent growth recorded in June, according to figures released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Tuesday.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, July’s overall takings increased 0.6 per cent from June, thanks to auto sales. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales dropped 1.1 per cent from the previous month.

The estimated total retail sales value in July was $3.9 billion, according to SingStat figures released on Tuesday.

Of this, online retail sales made up 12.6 per cent, similar to June.

The biggest year-on-year increase in July came from the food and alcohol industry, at 21 per cent, mainly due to higher demand for alcoholic products, including those sold in duty-free shops.

Sales at mini-marts and convenience stores rose 7.4 per cent, while auto sales grew 7.3 per cent.

Conversely, sales at petrol service stations plunged 16.1 per cent in July, partly due to lower petrol prices. This was lower than the 24.2 per cent fall in June.

Year-on-year sales also fell for recreational goods (5.8 per cent), supermarkets and hypermarkets (2.3 per cent) and department stores (2.1 per cent).

The food and beverage sector saw continued growth in sales compared with 2022, albeit at a slower rate.

Sales of F&B services rose 6.5 per cent in July on a year-on-year basis, lower than the 7.2 per cent growth in June and the 15.3 per cent rise in April.

Food caterers saw their takings swell by 24 per cent in June, compared with the same month a year earlier.