SINGAPORE, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's retail sales increased 1.1 percent in November, 2016 on a year-on-year basis, said Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) on Friday.
Retail sales dropped 2.1 percent year-on-year excluding motor vehicles, said SingStat in the report. The total retail sales value in November was estimated at 3.6 billion Singapore dollars (2.5 billion U.S. dollars), similar to that in November 2015.
While on a month-on-month basis, retail sales increased by 0.5 percent in November. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell by 0.3 percent.
Sales for motor vehicles grew by 17.0 percent in November year-on-year, the highest increase across all sectors. Sales for medical goods and toiletries, recreational goods, as well as optical goods and books followed, registering an increase of 4.4 percent, 1.3 percent, and 0.3 percent respectively.
On the contrary, computers and telecommunications equipment fell the most, registering a 13.5 percent decline in November year-on-year. It was followed by watches and jewelry, which decreased 6.0 percent; while wearing apparel and footwear dropped 4.4 percent.
As for food and beverage services, sales for the sector in November fell 1.3 percent year-on-year, also post a 1.6 percent decrease on a month-on-month basis. The total sales value for this sector was estimated at 650 million Singapore dollars (456 million U.S. dollars), lower than the 659 million Singapore dollars (462 million U.S. dollars) in November 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.
