SINGAPORE: Retail sales in July showed modest signs of recovery as it notched gains year on year (y-o-y), a continuation of the upward trend seen in June. Total sales in July was up 1.8 per cent compared to a year ago, according to the latest data released by the Department of Statistics. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales was up 2.2 per cent. It was also 3 per cent higher compared to the previous month of June. Excluding car sales, the figure stood at 2.6 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, sales at petrol service stations showed the biggest improvement with 8.1 per cent, followed by medical goods and toiletries at 7.3 per cent. Furniture and household equipment fared the worst, with a dive of 6.3 per cent in sales.
Compared to the previous month, recreational goods saw the best performance at 6.4 per cent, followed closely behind by department store sales at 6.3 per cent. Sales of watches and jewellery, as well as furniture and household equipment, fell the most at 4 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively. Sales of food and beverage services, however, dipped marginally at 0.5 per cent year on year in July, although it went up by 1.6 per cent compared to June. The total retail sales value in July 2017 was estimated at S$3.7 billion, higher than the S$3.6 billion in July 2016.
