Retail sales rise 2.2% YoY in May

Excluding motor vehicles, sales would remain flat.

Retail sales rose 2.2 YoY and 2.4% MoM in May, translating to a sales value of $4.1b.

Of the total sales value, 11.5% was from online sales.

Excluding motor vehicles, which saw a 19.5% YoY uptick and a 3.2% MoM decrease, sales would have remained flat YoY and increased 3.3% MoM.

The Department of Statistics Singapore (Singstat) said the retail industries had a mixed performance in May.

Apart from Motor Vehicles, the only industries which saw YoY improvements were Food & Alcohol (11.1% ), Cosmetics, Toiletries & Medical Goods (3.1%), Watches & Jewellery (7.4%), Petrol Service Stations (0.9%), and Furniture & Household Equipment (1.2%).

Meanwhile, Wearing Apparel & Footwear led the industries which posted sales 
decline in May, with a 6.8 YoY contraction.

Other industries which recorded YoY sales declines were  Department Stores (-2.8%), Recreational Goods (-5.8%),  Optical Goods & Books (-6.7%), Supermarkets and Hypermarkets (-1.1%), Mini-marts & Convenience Stores (-3.5%), and  Computer & Telecommunications Equipment (-1.6%).