Retail sales up 1.9% YoY in November

Total retail sales value reached $3.7b.

Retail sales for November 2021 experienced a 1.9% year-on-year (YoY) jump, as reported by the Department of Statistics Singapore. 

This put total retail sales value at $3.7b. 16.9% of which can be attributed to online sales.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales saw a 4.1% YoY increase or $3.3b worth of retail sales. 

YoY, petrol service stations and watches and jewellery led the sectors with most growth at 21.1% and 15.3%, respectively. This was due to higher petrol prices and demand for the latter. Also accompanying this were increases in wearing apparel and footwear, furniture and household equipment, and cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods with recorded increases of 12.8%, 8%, and 7.6%, respectively. 

On the other hand, sales of motor vehicles and optical goods and books dipped by 12.3% and 11.3%, respectively. 

The same could also be said for sectors on a month-on-month basis, as the majority of sectors recorded a growth in sales. Leading this were department stores, optical goods and books, and, wearing apparel and footwear, with 17.6%, 16.6%, and 11.6%, respectively. 

Meanwhile, computer and telecommunications equipment slid by 20.1% during the same period, mainly due to the new phone launches from the previous month.