Singapore’s retail sales growth eased at a faster-than-expected pace in September, data published by the Department of Statistics revealed Friday.
Retail sales rose 4.6 percent year-over-year in September, slower than the 6.6 percent gain in the previous month. Economists had expected the growth to slow to 5.5 percent.
The annual growth in September was largely driven by a 48.3 percent surge in sales of motor vehicles. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales dropped 1.4 percent, reversing a 1.9 percent increase in August.
Department store sales grew 3.4 percent and supermarket sales went up by 3.9 percent. At the same time, sales at petrol service stations plunged 22.5 percent and sales of food and beverages fell by 0.6 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales declined a seasonally adjusted 3.7 percent in September, reversing a 5.4 percent climb in the preceding month.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com