Singapore's retail sales increased at a steady pace in October, figures from the Department of Statistics revealed Thursday.
Retail sales climbed 2.2 percent year-over-year in October, the same rate of gain as in the previous month, which was revised up from a 2.0 percent increase reported earlier. That was well above the 0.3 percent rise expected by economists.
The annual growth in October was mainly driven by a 14.5 percent surge in sales of motor vehicles. Excluding motor vehicles, retail trade dropped 0.3 percent.
Sales at petrol service stations advanced 3.4 percent and sales of recreational goods grew by 5.6 percent.
Similarly, sales of food and beverages rose 1.0 percent and sales at department stores registered an increase of 0.8 percent.
Month-on-month, retail sales went up a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent in October, reversing a 0.6 percent drop in September.
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