S'pore retail takings rise 1% in July, due to car sales

Business Correspondent Total takings at the shopping till in Singapore turned positive in July, as a higher certificate of entitlement quota drove up car sales.

- Prisca Ang

Retail sales rose 1 per cent in July from the same month a year earlier, reversing a 0.6 per cent decline in June, according to Department of Statistics (SingStat) data released on Sept 5. Sales came in below the 1.3 per cent rise forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

Also, excluding motor vehicle sales, July's retail turnover fell 2.3 per cent, extending a 3.1 per cent drop in June. Retail sales have been lifted by those of vehicles in recent months, and have otherwise dropped or remained flat.

UOB associate economist Jester Koh said that retail sales were sluggish despite strong tourist arrivals. Visitor arrivals rose to 1.6 million in July or 89 per cent of 2019 levels with the influx driven by tourists from China and Europe during the summer school holidays.

"Nonetheless, the recovery in tourist arrivals towards pre-pandemic levels has been somewhat challenging, possibly due to a rising preference for domestic tourism among Chinese tourists above overseas travel," he said.