SINGAPORE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore announced on Friday that Singapore's retail sales decreased by 52.1 percent year on year this May, compared to a revised 40.3-percent decrease in the previous month.
DOS said that this is the lowest recorded decline since 1986 when growth rate data was first compiled. It attributed the retail sales decrease mainly to the Circuit Breaker measures that Singapore implemented from April 7 to June 1 to contain the COVID-19 transmission.
The proportion of online sales in the total retail sales value, which was about 1.8 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.29 billion U.S. dollars), grew from 17.8 percent in April to an estimated 24.5 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the retail sales decreased by 21.5 percent month on month in May, compared to a revised 31.3 percent decrease in April.
Excluding motor vehicles, Singapore's retail sales in May declined by 45.2 percent year on year and 20.1 percent month on month.
DOS also announced that the sales of food and beverage services decreased by 50.1 percent year on year but grew 4.1 percent month on month in May. The sales value was estimated at 430 million Singapore dollars, of which the proportion of online sales grew from 39.2 percent in April to an estimated 44.6 percent in May. Enditem
