However, retail sales continue to be below pre-Covid levels with a m-o-m decline of 6.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis, larger than the 1.3% decline recorded in April. The larger decline is due to the implementation of Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) measures from May 16.
Singapore’s total retail sales value increased 79.7% y-o-y to $3.3 billion in May according to data from the Department of Statistics (SingStat) reported on July 5, beating consensus forecasts of 63.6% according to Bloomberg.
The jump follows the 54% y-o-y increase recorded for April. The increase is attributable to a low base from the previous year when Circuit Breaker measures were in place due to Covid-19, with physical stores closed for the entire month.
