The Department of Statistics (DOS) of Singapore announced on Monday that Singapore's retail sales grew by 13.7 percent year on year in July, compared to the 14.9 percent year-on-year increase recorded in the previous month.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales grew by 18.1 percent this July, compared to the 19.9 percent growth in June.

The year-on-year increase in retail sales was partly attributed to larger growths in the wearing apparel and footwear industry, food and alcohol industry, department stores industry and watches and Jewellery industry, the DOS said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore's retail sales increased by 0.6 percent in July over the previous month. In June, the retail sales declined by 1.4 percent month on month.

The estimated total value of retail sales this July was about 3.9 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.78 billion U.S. dollars). Of these, online retail sales made up an estimated 12.7 percent, similar to that recorded in June 2022.

The DOS also reported that the sales of food and beverage services grew by 41.9 percent year on year this July, extending the 59.1 percent increase in the previous month. The significant growth in sales performance was attributed to the low base in July 2021, when restrictions on dining-in at food and beverage establishments were in place.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore's sales of food and beverage services grew by 0.1 percent this July, compared to the 0.4 percent decline in June.

The sales value of food and beverage services was estimated at 939 million Singapore dollars in July, of which the proportion of online sales was estimated at 26.2 percent, higher than the 25.5 percent recorded in June.