What:  Singapore retail sales rose 1.5% year-on-year in July as fuel and department-store sales declined, while recreational goods and jewellery sustained a third straight month of double-digit growth.

Why it is important: The divergence shows Singaporean households cutting back on routine spending while protecting big-ticket discretionary purchases, a pattern consistent with the department-store weakness and prime-retail polarisation already tracked across recent coverage

Singapore's retail sales growth slowed markedly in July, with sales excluding motor vehicles rising 1.5% year-on-year, down from 4.1% in June, according to the Department of Statistics. Total retail sales value was estimated at SG$3.7 billion (US$2.9 billion), of which 18.3% came from online channels.

Recreational goods and watches and jewellery led category growth, up 13.9% and 11.1% respectively, driven mainly by sporting goods and jewellery sales. This marked the third consecutive month of double-digit growth for both categories, according to Josh Gilbert, lead Apac analyst at Etoro.

Fuel sales reversed from 8% growth in June to a 1.1% decline in July, as record pump prices earlier in the year began to ease, though Gilbert expects continued volatility given renewed oil price pressure. Supermarket, mini-mart, and food and alcohol sales also fell year-on-year, partly distorted by last July's SG60 vouchers. Department stores recorded a sixth decline in seven months, underscoring the sector's structural weakness even as discretionary, big-ticket spending held firm.

IADS Notes: Singapore's retail sector has shown a consistent pattern of discretionary strength paired with structural department-store weakness. Inside Retail's coverage of June 2026 data recorded a 4.1% year-on-year rise driven by recreational goods (+11.4%) and watches and jewellery (+10.5%), while department stores fell 9.5% and F&B weakened — the same discretionary-led, department-store-lagging pattern now extending into July. That structural pressure has translated into concrete restructuring: as reported in Inside Retail, July 2026, Metro will close its Paragon and Causeway Point department stores and shift to smaller multi-concept formats after posting a US$8.8 million net loss, even as prime retail real estate in the same market continues to attract strong demand. This reflects a wider polarisation documented by Channel News Asia in December 2025, which found that owner-operators with prime Orchard Road positioning, such as Tangs and Takashimaya, have remained resilient while rent-paying tenants including Isetan, BHG and Metro face mounting losses and closures. Fuel spending, meanwhile, has proven volatile in the opposite direction to July's decline: Inside Retail, June 2026 reported a 14.4% jump in petrol station sales in April, underscoring how sensitive this category is to pump-price swings from month to month.

Singapore retail sales growth slows in July, but discretionary demand holds up