Singapore retail takings up 10.4% in October though car sales extend slump

Food, alcohol, apparel, footwear see largest jumps; tight COE supply hits vehicle sales

- Adeline Tan

Retail sales in Singapore continued to climb in October, though at a slower year-on-year pace, as car sales extended their slump, according to figures released by the Department of Statistics on Monday.

Total retail takings rose 10.4 per cent year on year, easing from the revised 11.3 per cent growth in September and the 13.3 per cent increase in August.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose by 14.3 per cent, compared with the revised 16.9 per cent increase in September.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales edged up 0.1 per cent in October, month on month. Excluding motor vehicles, sales grew by 0.8 per cent.

This is a dip compared with the monthly growth from August to September, which saw a 3.2 per cent increase for total retail sales, and 4.1 per cent excluding motor vehicles.

Most industries recorded a year-on-year increase in sales in October, with the apparel and footwear industry seeing a 52.9 per cent jump, the second-largest among all 14 industries. Food and alcohol sales took the top spot at 61 per cent.