Singapore retail sales to dive into the red with 1.5% dip: SingStat

Robust motor vehicles industry prevented it from sinking even lower.

The motor vehicles could only do so much to save the flailing retail sales index which, according to Department of Statistics (SingStat), continues to suffer lapses.

According to the latest data by SingStat, the retail sales only dipped 1.5% over the previous month.

However, without motor vehicles sector saving it, retail sales dropped 3.7% compared to the same period last year.

On a year over year basis, the motor vehicles managed to buoy retail sales with a 0.9% increase.

The motor vehicles and the supermarkets are the only sectors which posed improvements for the month of June, growing by 7.8% and 0.1% respectively.

All the other sectors bled red for the said month, with recreational goods suffering the highest setback at 11.3%.

Meanwhile, on a yearly basis, the motor vehicles sector registered a 17.1% increase.

"Similarly, retail sales of furniture & household equipment and medical goods & toiletries rose 5.8% and 3% respectively over the same period," SingStat noted.