Singapore's retail sales increases 8.3% in February, partly due to CNY
Retail sales in Singapore went up 8.3 per cent year-on-year in February which was the Chinese New Year (CNY) month.It reverses the 0.5 per cent decrease in January, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) released on Monday (April 6).Excluding motor vehicles, parts and accessories, retail sales increased 11.2 per cent in February, compared to the 2.9 per cent decline at the start of the year.But on a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales declined 4.1 per cent in February over the previous month.Supermarkets and hypermarkets saw the most growth year-on-year rising 29.3 per cent.Closely following are recreational goods which increased by 26 per cent, as well as department store sales which grew 16.8 per cent.While sales of apparel and footwear grew 8.8 per cent compared to last year, its performance fell 14.4 per cent when seasonally adjusted.Sales also fell for petrol service stations and motor vehicles, recording a decline of 9.8 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively.