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Singapore retail sales in February rebound to 12.7% after brief dip

  • Apr 07, 2023

SINGAPORE’S total retail sales in February jumped 12.7 per cent year on year, more than reversing the brief dip in the previous month, data from the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) showed on Wednesday (Apr 5).

This brought total retail sales value in February to S$3.6 billion, of which 12.4 per cent was derived from online sales.

SingStat noted that the increase was due in part to a lower base, as some shops were not open during the Chinese New Year festive season in early February last year.

In comparison, January recorded a momentary 0.8 per cent year-on-year decline.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 11.7 per cent in February, extending the 2.1 per cent increase in the preceding month.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, total retail sales grew 3.9 per cent, an improvement over the 9.5 per cent contraction in January.

Other than supermarkets and hypermarkets, which saw sales shrink 3.6 per cent year on year, all retail sales categories had year-on-year growth in February.

Notably, food and alcohol recorded a 69 per cent year-on-year surge in sales due to higher demand for alcoholic products, including those sold in duty-free shops, said SingStat.

Department stores, wearing apparel and footwear, computer and telecommunications equipment, as well as optical goods and books, all saw growth of more than 20 per cent year on year.

Separately, sales of food and beverage (F&B) services jumped 21.6 per cent year on year in February, only marginally slower than the 21.9 per cent increase in the previous month.

Food caterers saw sales more than doubled with a 101.5 per cent year-on-year increase, due mainly to higher demand for event and in-flight catering with the easing of restrictions on large-scale events, international travel and social gatherings, said SingStat.

The other F&B segments also registered year-on-year growth:

  • Restaurants (17.2 per cent)
  • Fast food outlets (8.9 per cent)
  • Cafes, food courts and other eating places (20.5 per cent)

OCBC chief economist Selena Ling noted that the brief contraction in January was likely due to consumer front-loading ahead of the one-percentage point goods and services tax (GST) hike on Jan 1, as well as the Chinese New Year festive season.

Maybank economist Lee Ju Ye said the front-loading was especially apparent on big-ticket items – discretionary categories such as watches and jewellery as well as furniture and household equipment have posted declines in the first two months of the year.

Department store sales appear to be easing as well as the reopening tailwind fades, she added.

Still, the 4.9 per cent year-on-year growth in retail sales for the first two months of the year offers a better gauge of the health of the Singapore economy than January or February data alone, said economists.

Ling said the performance suggests the economy is in a “better shape” compared to the same period last year.

She added that there should be ongoing support for the retail sector despite the tepid performance of the manufacturing sector due to the global demand slowdown.

“The uptick in visitor arrivals, especially with the return of Chinese tourists, should bode well for the services sector and particularly for the retail industry,” Ling said, noting that visitor arrivals last month crossed the one-million mark for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/singapore/singapore-retail-sales-february-rebound-127-after-brief-dip