SINGAPORE, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's retail sales decreased by 40.5 percent year on year this April, compared to the 13.3 percent decrease in the previous month, said the Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore on Friday.
Meanwhile, the proportion of online sales grew from 8.5 percent in March to 17.8 percent in April.
The authority attributed the retail sales decrease mainly to the Circuit Breaker measures from April 7 to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, including the closure of non-essential services, prohibition of social gatherings and allowing only delivery or take-away for the food and beverage establishments.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the retail sales decreased by 31.7 percent month on month in April, compared to the 1.3 percent decrease in March.
Excluding motor vehicles, Singapore's retail sales in April declined by 32.8 percent year on year and 26 percent month on month. The estimated total retail sales value this April was about 2.1 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.51 billion US dollars).
Singapore DOS also announced that the sales of food and beverage services decreased by 53 percent year on year and 38.8 percent month on month in April. The sales value was estimated at 397 million Singapore dollars, of which the proportion of online sales grew from 15.6 percent in March to 39.2 percent in April. Enditem
