SG consumer and retail sectors to fully recover after 2025: Fitch

Real household spending will continue to fall below pre-pandemic levels in the coming years.

Singapore’s consumer and retail sector will post a full recovery only after 2025, the latest report by Fitch Solutions said.

The firm expects households to be able to spend more in 2021, with a 5.9% growth, recovering from the contraction of 13.8% last year.

This translates to $143.9b, which is still below the pre-pandemic level of $158.7b.

“As a result, we project a full recovery of Singapore's consumer and retail sector to only take place beyond 2025, largely due to the weak growth in private consumption over the forecast period, despite conventional growth returning in 2023,” Fitch said.

It expects real household spending to average at 2.3% between 2022 to 2025, translating to $157b, still below pre-pandemic levels.