Retail sales still suffering

Shopping malls may have been springing up all over Singapore, but the new malls may not be enough to save the suffering retail sector.

The latest government figures showed an overall 1.4% drop from recession year of 2008. However, this is at least a slow in decline from the previous quarter, which showed an 8.8% decrease in sales.

The greatest loser was motor vehicle sales, falling by 16% compared to last year, though figures show a slight pick up in November of 1.4% compared to October in 2009. This follows a consistent fall since 2007, with the greatest year-on-year decline happening in Q3 2009.

Others that suffered declines were the F&B industry(-3.1%), sundry and provision shops (-4.2), optical goods & books (-0.9).

The sector that earned the most for the year was watches and jewellery, increasing at 14%.

The retail industry has been chalking up year-on-year declines since Q4 of 2008.

The month of October to November gave only a slight respite from the constant decline, with a slight pick-up in sales of 0.5%. Most sectors of retail showed small increases in sales ranging from 0.2% to 8.1%. Sectors that continued to see drops in sales for the month were the F&B, department stores, wearing apparel and footwear, recreational goods, watches and jewellery and telecoms apparatus & computers.