SINGAPORE'S retail sales fell for the first time in four months as vehicles sales slumped and consumers bought fewer luxury goods, mobile phones and computers, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The retail sales index fell 3.2 per cent from a year earlier, after climbing 4.8 per cent in May, the Statistics Department said on Friday.

That was worse than the median forecast for a 0.2 per cent decline in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists.

Excluding vehicles, sales dropped 0.8 per cent.

Singapore's tourism arrivals have eased as the island's dollar appreciated, and the number of visitors in June dropped the most since the SARS outbreak five years ago.

The government last week lowered its 2008 growth forecast as the highest inflation rate in 26 years leaves consumers with less to spend.

'Car sales have been weakening around the world as oil prices rose, and it's not surprising to see the same in Singapore as well,' said Mr David Cohen, director of Asian Forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore.

'Retail sales are not expected to pick up very much in the second half.'

Adjusted for seasonal factors, retail sales in June were unchanged from May. Excluding cars, the index fell 2.2 per cent from June, the government said.

Vehicle sales in June declined 8 per cent from the same month in 2007. From May, auto sales rose 6.8 per cent, without adjusting for seasonal factors.

Purchases at supermarkets grew 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, and slipped 5.4 per cent from the previous month.

Department-store sales gained 5 per cent in June from the same month in 2007, and dropped 4.5 per cent from May.

Purchases of furniture and household equipment slid 10 per cent from a year earlier.

Apparel and footwear sales rose 2.8 per cent and those of watches and jewellery declined 21.8 per cent.