Singapore retail sales declined sharply in March as consumption decreased due to the containment measures enforced to slow the spread of the [coronavirus][1], or Covid-19, data from the Department of Statistics showed on Tuesday.
Retail sales declined 13.3 percent year-on-year in March, following an 8.4 percent fall in February.
The annual decline was mainly due to the fall in retail industries selling discretionary items, due to weaker domestic consumption and fewer tourist arrivals amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the agency said.
Motor vehicle sales dropped 28.2 percent annually in March, following a 1.3 percent rise in the previous month.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 9.7 percent in March, following a 9.9 percent decrease in the preceding month.
Sales of wearing apparel and footwear declined the most, by 41.6 percent in March. Sales of food and alcohol decreased 41.0 percent and department stores fell 38.6 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 1.3 percent in March, following an 8.4 percent decline in the prior month.
Sales of food & beverage services dropped 23.7 percent year-on-year in March due to lower consumption, with safe distancing measures implemented due to the COVID19 outbreak.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
[Economic News][2]
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click[here][3] to check out our [Econ Scorecard][3] and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in [GDP][4], [unemployment rate][5], [inflation][6] and much more.
- www.rttnews.com/list/coronavirus.aspx
- www.rttnews.com/Content/EconomicNews.aspx
- www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/retail-sales/highest-performance.aspx
- www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/GDP/highest-performance.aspx
- www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/unemployment-rate/lowest-performance.aspx
- www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/CPI/highest-performance.aspx