SINGAPORE - Car sellers had a much better September this year while the rest of the sluggish local retail sector could only look on in envy.

Overall retail takings climbed 5.5 per cent in September compared with the previous year, the Department of Statistics said on Friday.

But strip out car sales and that seemingly buoyant growth figure shrinks to just a marginal 0.6 per cent increase over the same timeframe.

Motor vehicle sales stood out, having leapt 30 per cent in September from the preceding year.

However, that was a slower pace than in August where car sales rocketed 49.5 per cent from the previous year due to lower certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums.

Petrol service stations also posted a 0.6 per cent rise in receipts in September.

The second-best performer, medical goods and toiletres, was far behind with its 6.9 per cent increase from last year.

Sales of phones, computers, watches and jewellery also went up from the previous year, while sales of furniture and recreational goods dropped.

Overall retail sales fell 0.4 per cent from August to September. Without car sales, the drop would have been 0.9 per cent over that timeframe.