Retail sales saw a drop of 5.7 per cent in August 2020 on a year-on-year basis, the Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) revealed on Oct. 5, 2020.
This is an improvement from the 8.5 per cent year-on-year decline observed in July 2020.
The improvement is attributed to a boost in sales in the motor vehicles industry due to a strong demand for cars.
Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased marginally by 0.1 per cent.
Here's a breakdown of retail sales for various industries:
Supermarkets & furniture stores doing well
Three industries saw growth in sales of between 16.4 and 21.9 per cent in August as people spend more time at home due to the Covid-19 situation and the work-from-home arrangements.
- Supermarkets & hypermarkets (+21.9 per cent)
- Furniture & household equipment (+18.7 per cent)
- Computer & telecommunications equipments equipment (+16.4 per cent)
Additionally, the motor vehicles industry also experienced an increase in sales (+12.1 per cent) due to strong demand for both new and used cars.
Most industries have improved sales in August 2020 as compared to July 2020.
These industries experienced the highest increase on a month-on-month basis:
- Motor Vehicles (+8.8 per cent)
- Petrol Service Stations (+10.1 per cent)
- Watches & jewellery (+9.4 per cent)
Sales fell for department stores, food & alcohol
On contrary, four industries registered a significant decline as compared to last year:
- Department stores (-35.3 per cent)
- Food & alcohol (-42.6 per cent)
- Cosmetic, toiletries & medical goods (-29.0 per cent)
- Wearing apparel & foodwear (-28.6 per cent)
In particular, the food and beverage services fell by 28.6 per cent in August on a year-on-year basis.
Food caterers experienced the greatest decline of 70.6 per cent, followed by restaurants, which experienced a decline of 32.2 per cent as compared to last year.
via SingStat press release.
Here's an overview:
via SingStat press release.
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