Domestic wholesale trade in Singapore contracted by 13.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2015, said the Department of Statistics Singapore yesterday in its latest report.

While still a decline, the drop was less than the 20.5 per cent year-on-year fall in the second quarter.

Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade fell 10.6 per cent.

The decline in nominal domestic wholesale trade value was partly due to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products.

After adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade registered a smaller year-onyear decrease of 5.1 per cent.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, domestic wholesale trade dipped by 0.3 per cent in July-September quarter over the previous three months.

Excluding petroleum, it rose 1.1 per cent. After removing the price effect, overall domestic wholesale trade declined 1.9 per cent over the previous quarter.

Foreign wholesale trade fell 8.8 per cent, partly due to lower prices of petroleum and chemical products. Excluding petroleum, it dropped 5.7 per cent. After adjusting for price changes, overall foreign wholesale trade edged up 0.8 per cent.

Compared with the second quarter, foreign wholesale trade rose 3.6 per cent in third quarter. Excluding petroleum, it expanded by 6.8 per cent over the previous quarter.

After removing the price effect, overall foreign wholesale trade registered an increase of 3.2 per cent.