SINGAPORE, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's retail sales increased 3.8 percent in April on a year-on-year basis, mainly due to higher sales of motor vehicles, said the Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Wednesday.
Retail sales fell 3.0 percent year-on-year excluding motor vehicles, said SingStat in the report. The total retail sales value in April was estimated at 3.5 billion Singapore dollars (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), higher than the 3.3 billion Singapore dollars (2.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the same period last year.
While on a month-on-month basis, retail sales rose by 1.1 percent in April. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales edged up 0.1 percent.
Sales for motor vehicles rose 43.0 percent in April year-on-year, the highest increase across all sectors. And sales for mini-marts and conveniences stores, medical goods and toiletries, supermarkets and department stores followed, registering an increase of 3.9 percent, 2.7 percent, 1.5 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
Wearing apparel and footwear sector was flat compared from a year ago, while all other sectors were in the red. Telecommunications apparatus and computers sector fell the most, registering a 17.1 percent decline year-on-year. It was followed by watches and jewelry, which decreased 11.3 percent and optical goods and books sector dropped 7.4 percent.
On food and beverage services, sales for the sector in April fell 1.7 percent year-on-year, decreased 0.2 percent month-on-month. The total sales value of food and beverage services in April was estimated at 658 million Singapore dollars (485 million U.S. dollars), higher than the 647 million Singapore dollars (477 million U.S. dollars) in April 2015.
The Retail Sales Index and the Food and Beverage Services Index measure the short-term performance of retail and food and beverage service industries based on their sales records. The sales figures exclude taxes.
