Singapore's retail sales grow 6.2 pct on year in November 2022

The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore announced on Thursday that the country's retail sales grew by 6.2 percent year on year in November 2022, following the about 10.3 percent year-on-year increase recorded in the previous month.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales grew by 8.7 percent in November, compared to the about 14.2 percent growth in October 2022.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore's retail sales declined by 3.7 percent in November from the previous month.

The estimated total value of retail sales in November was about 4 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.98 billion U.S. dollars). Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 14.8 percent, compared to the 13 percent recorded in October 2022. The higher online retail sales proportion was mainly attributed to more sales recorded during the year-end online shopping events.

The DOS also reported that the sales of food and beverage services grew by 24.7 percent year on year in November 2022, following the 36.9 percent increase in the previous month. The large growth in sales was attributed to the low base in November 2021, when there were restrictions on dining-in at food and beverage establishments.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore's sales of food and beverage services decreased by 0.1 percent in November 2022, compared to the 1.2 percent rise in October.

The sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at 928 million Singapore dollars (about 692.43 billion dollars) in November 2022, of which the proportion of online sales was estimated at 23.3 percent, lower than the 24 percent recorded in October 2022.