The pent-up demand in line with Singapore’s tighter labour market, as well as the low-base seen in January 2021 are also likely contributors to the demand in retail sales, says UOB economist Barnabas Gan.
For the month of January 2022, Singapore’s total retail sales value grew by 11.8% y-o-y to $4.2 billion, beating the market estimate of a 7.2% y-o-y growth.
The improvement in January’s retail sales performance was attributable to the increased spending before the Chinese New Year period, which took place in early February. In 2021, pre-Chinese New Year spending took place mostly in February due to the festive season being in mid-February at the time.
