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Singapore: retail sales down by 52.1% in May

Jul 6, 2020 Singapore

According to the Department of Statistics in Singapore, the country's retail sales fell by 52.1% in May 2020 from May 2019. This was the lowest recorded decline since 1986 when data started to be compiled

According to the Department of Statistics in Singapore, the country's retail sales fell by 52.1% in May 2020 from May 2019, compared to the 40.3% year-on-year decline recorded in April 2020. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell by 45.2%, lower than the 32.5% in the previous month. Compared to April 2020, seasonally adjusted retail sales declined by 21.5% in May 2020. Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales decreased by 20.1%.

The estimated total retail sales value in May 2020 totaled about 1.8 billion US dollars. Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 24.5%. Online retail sales of the Computer & Telecommunications Equipment, Furniture & Household Equipment and Supermarkets & Hypermarkets industries made up 94.3%, 93.6% and 9.6% of the total sales of their respective industry.

Year-on-Year

On a year-on-year basis, all retail industries registered year-on-year declines except Supermarkets & Hypermarkets (+56.1% in May) and Mini-marts & Convenience Stores (+9.1%), as these remained opened for the that period of time. Sales of Watches & Jewellery, Department Stores and Wearing Apparel & Footwear industries fell by, respectively, 96.9%, 93.4% and 89.1% in May 2020, as physical stores were closed for the entire month.

Month-on-Month

Based on seasonally adjusted data, retailers of Watches & Jewellery and Department Stores experienced declines in sales of 73.2% and 65.4%, respectively, compared to April 2020. Similarly, sales of the Optical Goods & Books, Furniture & Household Equipment and Motor Vehicles industries fell between 41.6% and 47.3% during this period.

Image credits: Lily Banse on Unsplash

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