SINGAPORE, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Domestic wholesale trade in Singapore contracted 20.5 percent in the second quarter of 2016 year-on-year, said Department of Statistics Singapore on Friday in its latest report.
Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade declined 15.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the report.
The decline in nominal domestic wholesale trade value was due partly to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products compared to the second quarter 2015.
After adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade registered a smaller year-on-year decrease of 0.1 percent.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, domestic wholesale trade expanded by 5.5 percent in the second quarter this year over the first quarter in 2016.
Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade decreased 2.2 percent. After removing the price effect, overall domestic wholesale trade grew by 1.5 percent over the previous quarter.
As for foreign wholesale trade, it dropped 16.6 percent year-on-year due partly to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products.
Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade decreased 13.1 percent. After adjusting for price changes, overall foreign wholesale trade grew by a marginal 0.2 percent year-on-year.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, foreign wholesale trade grew by 9.1 percent in second quarter 2016. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade increased 2.1 percent. After removing the price effect, overall foreign wholesale trade registered a smaller increase of 0.2 percent.
Wholesale Trade Index (WTI), composed of two series, namely domestic WTI and foreign WTI, measures the short-term performance of wholesale trade activities. The indices are presented at both current prices and constant prices.
The indices at current prices measure the changes in sales value which can result from changes in both price and quantity. By removing the price effect, the indices at constant prices measure the changes in the sales volume.
