Phone sales

Singapore retail sales up 7.5% in October driven by mobile phone sales

SINGAPORE: October retail sales in Singapore rose 7.5% year-on-year as consumers bought more mobile phones after new product launches.

October’s expansion was higher than the 6.8% recorded in September, according to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Friday (December 3rd).

This is the second consecutive month of retail sales growth. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales also rose 11.4%.

Total retail sales value stood at S$3.6 billion, but remained below pre-pandemic levels, SingStat said. Online sales accounted for 15.2% of the total.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales rose 0.7% in October from September. Growth fell to 2.3% when motor vehicles were excluded.

RETAIL SALES BY INDUSTRY

Most industries in the retail sector saw year-over-year sales increases, with purchases of computer and telecommunications equipment jumping 72.9% due to new product launches.

Watches and jewelry, petrol stations and supermarkets and hypermarkets also recorded double-digit increases of 26.9%, 16.3% and 10.4% respectively.

Sales also increased in food and alcohol, cosmetics, toiletries and medical products, clothing and footwear, and furniture and household equipment.

In contrast, sales fell for department stores, hobby goods, optical goods and books, motor vehicles, convenience stores and convenience stores.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, sales in most industries rose, with computer and telecommunications equipment topping the list at 4.1%.