Singapore's Retail Sales Rise up by 6.2% y-o-y to $4.0 Bn in November 2022

Department of Statistics Singapore today released the retail sales performance data.

On a year-on-year basis, retail sales increased 6.2% in November 2022, extending the 10.3% y-o-y increase seen in October 2022.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales rose 8.7%, extending the 14.2% increase in October 2022.

The Retail Sales Index (RSI) and Food & Beverage Services Index (FSI) measure the short-term performance of the retail trade and food & beverage (F&B) services industries based on the sales records of retail trade and F&B services establishments respectively.

The estimated total retail sales value in November 2022 was $4.0 billion. Of this, online retail sales made up an estimated 14.8%, compared to the 13.0% recorded in October 2022. Excluding motor vehicles, the total retail sales value was about $3.6 billion, of which 16.5% came from online retail sales.

The higher online retail sales proportion was mainly attributed to more sales recorded during the year-end online shopping events such as Singles’ Day (11.11) and Black Friday. Online retail sales of the Computer & Telecommunications Equipment, Furniture & Household Equipment and Supermarkets & Hypermarkets industries made up 51.4%, 34.2% and 14.5% of the total sales of their respective industry.

Within the retail trade sector, most industries recorded year-on-year growth in sales in November 2022. The Food & Alcohol and Wearing Apparel & Footwear industries recorded year-on-year growths in sales of 57.6% and 34.1%, due mainly to higher demand for alcoholic products (including those sold in duty-free shops) as well as bags and footwear respectively.

Similarly, sales of Department Stores, Cosmetics, Toiletries & Medical Goods and Recreational Goods increased between 16.2% and 22.0%. In contrast, sales of Motor Vehicles fell 12.4%, which corresponded to the lower Certificate of Entitlement (COE) quota this year. The Supermarkets & Hypermarkets and Computer & Telecommunications Equipment industries also recorded declines in sales of 5.8% and 3.9% respectively.

Sales of food & beverage (F&B) services grew by 24.7% in November 2022 on a year-on-year basis, following the 36.9% increase in October 2022. The large growth in F&B sales in November 2022 was mainly attributed to the low base in November 2021, when there were restrictions on dining-in at F&B establishments.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales of F&B services declined 0.1% in November 2022 over the previous month. The total sales value of F&B services in November 2022 was estimated at $928 million. Of this, online F&B sales made up an estimated 23.3%, compared to the 24.0% recorded in October 2022.