Singapore Retail Sales Rise 2.5% as iPhones and Petrol Offset Haze

Singapore retail sales grew 2.5 per cent year on year in September, up from a revised 1.7 per cent in August, according to the Department of Statistics. Smartphones and petrol did the lifting. The haze did the dragging.

The estimated total retail sales value came in at SG$3.6 billion (US$2.8 billion), with 20.8 per cent of that transacted online — roughly one in five retail dollars now flows through a screen.

Computer and telecommunications equipment retailers posted the strongest gain, up 16.5 per cent year on year, driven mainly by higher mobile phone sales. Petrol service stations followed at 6.5 per cent, as petrol prices climbed during the month. Cosmetics, toiletries and medical goods rose 6 per cent, and furniture and household equipment gained 5.3 per cent.

Not everyone got the memo. Mini-marts and convenience stores fell 5.6 per cent, and department stores dropped 3.4 per cent.

Food and beverage services increased 1 per cent in September, reversing the 1.8 per cent decline recorded in August.

What held September back?

Despite the solid annual growth, September's retail sales slipped 1.8 per cent against August on a seasonally adjusted basis. Zavier Wong, market analyst at eToro, points to the weather.

"September was the first time since 2019 that air quality turned unhealthy across the island. Put simply, consumers will avoid wandering through the streets in those conditions as much as possible. The effects are most prominent across physical stores such as mini-marts, recreational goods, optical goods and books," Wong said.

The computer and telecom equipment sector escaped the weakness thanks to the launch of Apple's new iPhones, he noted. That bump, however, is unlikely to repeat in October.

What does this change for October?

Not much, and that's the point. Wong expects similar retail sales patterns in the next print, because the haze lasted through much of October.

"I'd expect the next print to look a lot like September's, with physical stores soft and online busy," he said.

The annual rate faces a second headwind: base effects. Last year's October and November both grew above 4 per cent, which, as Wong put it, "leaves a high base to climb over."

For retailers and marketers, the practical readout is straightforward. Demand didn't vanish in September — it moved. Categories tied to device launches and fuel prices surged, online kept taking share at 20.8 per cent of sales, and anything requiring a walk down a smoky street suffered. If the haze persists into the October data, expect the same split: digital channels busy, footfall-dependent formats soft, and the year-on-year headline flattered less by an unusually strong 2024 comparison.