Motor vehicle sales surge 41% in July: MTI

Overall retail sales are down 0.2%.

Retailers of motor vehicles recorded a 41.0% year-on-year sales increase in July 2014, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Department of the Statistics revealed today.

This was partly due to lower sales of motor vehicles a year ago after the temporary lifting of the loan restrictions on the purchase of the pre-existing stock of used cars ended.

Similarly, retail sales of department stores, supermarkets, food & beverages, medical goods & toiletries and petrol service stations rose between 2.0% and 5.6% year-on-year.

In contrast, retail sales of furniture & household equipment, recreational goods, watches & jewellery, mini-marts & convenience stores, telecommunications apparatus & computers, wearing apparel & footwear and optical goods & books decreased between 1.0% and 6.5% in July 2014 over the same period last year.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales decreased marginally by 0.2% in July 2014 over the previous month. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales declined 1.3%.

Overall, retail sales increased 5.5% in July 2014 on a year-on-yeaqr basis. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 0.4%.

The total retail sales value in July 2014 was estimated at $3.2 billion, higher than the $3.0 billion in July 2013.