Singapore retail sales jump 4.5% in January on festive buys, beating expectations
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Some analysts believe the strong numbers at the start of the year are likely to dip in February as the effects of the festive period fade.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE - Retail sales in Singapore picked up sharply in January, beating expectations and starting the new year on a good note, with Chinese New Year celebrations taking place in the same month.
However, some analysts believe the strong numbers at the start of the year were likely to dip in February as the effects of the festive period fade.
Takings at the till rose 4.5 per cent year on year in January, a reverse from the decline of 2.9 per cent in December 2024,
This beat the 2.1 per cent increase anticipated by economists in a Bloomberg poll.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales grew 4.8 per cent year on year, compared with the 4 per cent decline in December 2024.
Eight of the 14 categories, including food and alcohol, watches and jewellery, and cosmetics, as well as toiletries and medical goods, saw a rise in turnover.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales rose 2.4 per cent in January over the previous month.
Excluding motor vehicles, seasonally adjusted retail sales increased 2.6 per cent from December 2024.
The biggest month-on-month rise was for watches and jewellery (10.3 per cent), followed by apparel and footwear (8 per cent), and optical goods and books (6.4 per cent).
Sales dropped month on month for other industries, with the largest declines coming from the food and alcohol category (23.5 per cent), followed by others (10.2 per cent), and furniture and households (1.6 per cent).
OCBC Bank’s chief economist Selena Ling said the question remains if retail sales will dip in February as the seasonal effects fade.
She expects retail sales to contract 2.3 per cent year on year in February.
“For the full year 2025, our retail sales forecast is for around 2.4 per cent year on year, in line with overall gross domestic product growth. Key determinants include the health of private consumption, which is tied to the labour market conditions, as well as visitor arrivals and spending,” Ms Ling said.
The estimated total retail sales value in January came in at $4.5 billion. Of this amount, about 11.6 per cent was from online sales, lower than the 13.4 per cent in December 2024.
Excluding motor vehicles, total retail takings were about $4 billion, of which 13.3 per cent came from online sales.
Sales of food and beverage services jumped 10.4 per cent year on year in January, extending the 1 per cent growth in December 2024.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales of food and beverage services went up 4.9 per cent month on month in January, a reverse from the 2.2 per cent decline in the previous month.
“The higher sales of food and beverage services were similarly due to the difference in the timing of Chinese New Year, which took place in February last year and January this year,” the Department of Statistics said.
The total sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at $1.1 billion in January, higher than the $1 billion for the prior month. About 23.6 per cent of the sales value came from online trade.
Food catering revenue climbed 31.8 per cent year on year, restaurant turnover advanced 17.7 per cent and fast-food outlets added 11.2 per cent.
