Singapore retail sales drop 0.4% in January, partly because of later CNY timing

Rising oil prices from the Iran war raises inflation risks, but it's too early to tell how much of an impact this will have on retail sales. Read more at straitstimes.com.

SINGAPORE - Takings at the till dipped 0.4 per cent year on year in January, reversing the 2.5 per cent growth recorded in December.

The decline in retail sales was partly due to Chinese New Year falling in February in 2026, as opposed to January in the previous year. Despite this, analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected sales to rise by 2.8 per cent.

Looking ahead, economists said rising oil prices from the Iran war raise inflation risks, but it is too early to tell how much of an impact this will have on retail sales.

Excluding motor vehicles, parts and accessories, retail sales dropped 2.8 per cent year on year, compared with the 1.8 per cent growth in December 2025.

However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales rose 6.1 per cent in January over the previous month, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics released on March 5.

Performance was mixed across the different retail industries.