Singapore's retail sales growth slowed at a faster-than-expected pace in December, figures from the Department of Statistics showed Friday.
Retail sales rose 2.6 percent year-on-year in December, much slower than November's 6.6 percent growth. Economists had expected the rate of growth to ease to 4.5 percent.
Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 3.2 percent annually in December, following a 0.4 drop seen in the prior month.
Sales of motor vehicles jumped 41.0 percent in December from the previous year, while sales at supermarkets edged up only 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, sales of food and beverages services grew 1.9 percent annually and fell 0.3 percent from the previous month.
Month-on-month, retail sales slid at a faster pace by 2.0 percent in December, after a 0.7 percent fall in the preceding month. Economists had expected sales to decrease at the same pace as in November. Excluding motor vehicles, sales declined by 3.3 percent.
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