SINGAPORE - Singapore's domestic wholesale trade continued to contract in the second quarter of this year.

Domestic wholesalers reported a 20.5 per cent slide for April to June compared to the same quarter a year ago, weighed down by lower prices of petroleum and chemical products as was the case in the first quarter, the Department of Statistics said on Friday (Aug 19).

Excluding petroleum, the year on year decline was 15.5 per cent. After adjusting for big price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade just edged down 0.1 per cent.

Foreign wholesale trade - a larger category that includes re-exports, offshore trade and transhipment cargo - fell 16.6 per cent on year. Excluding petroleum, the decline was 13.1 per cent.

Stripping out price changes, foreign wholesale trade grew by a marginal 0.2 per cent from a year earlier.

In the first quarter, domestic wholesale trade contracted 22.6 per cent year on year.

SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS