Singapore retail sales down 9.5%

Singapore's retail sales for February slumped by 9.5 percent on year partly due to seasonal factors that Chinese New Year fell in February last year but in end January this year, the city state's Department of Statistics said on Tuesday. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales also went down by 9.2 percent on year. On year-on-year basis, most retail categories experienced sales declines in February. In particular sectors, retailers of food and beverages, supermarkets, wearing apparel and footwear, department stores, motor vehicles and provision and sundry shops reported double-digit sales declines of 10.5 percent to 33.7 percent in February. Meanwhile, retails sales of sectors including medical goods and toiletries, recreational goods, telecommunications apparatus and computers, petrol service stations, furniture and household equipment and watches and jewelry registered slighter contractions between 0.6 percent to 7.4 percent on year. However, retail sales of optical goods and books grew by an annual rate of 7.0 percent in February, representing the only sector that saw rise in that month. Compared to January, the seasonally adjusted retail sales figure increased by 3.0 percent in February. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales increased marginally by 1.0 percent.