Singapore - Retail Sales

For Singapore, the retail sales index describes the monthly sales of the retail sector; kind of store detailed by aggregate of SSIC branches; in value, volume, SA and NSA forms. Monthly from as early as 1985.

Active:

• Industrial classification: SSIC 2025, aligned with UN ISIC Rev. 5
• Measurements:
  • Fixed-base chained volume index relative to 2025 (Index Ch. Vol. 2025=100)
  • Fixed-base current-price index (Index 2025=100)
• Adjustments:
  • Seasonally adjusted (SA)
  • Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
• Native frequency: Monthly
• Start dates:
  • All-items indexes from 1998m11
  • Others from 1998m12

Predecessors:

• SSIC 2020, 2017=100 at chained prices - 1985m1 to 2025m12
• 2017=100 at constant prices - 1985m1 to 2019m12 (no specifier)
• SSIC 2010, 2014=100 - 1985m1 to 2017m12 ("_14")
• SSIC 2010, 2010=100 - 1985m1 to 2014m12 (no specifier)
• SSIC 2005, 2005=100 - 1985m1 to 2010m12 ("05")

Global concept alias(es):

• WRT$
• WRT

In 2026, the source writes:

Retail Trade and Food & Beverage (F&B) services are integral to Singapore's domestic consumption, catering to consumers’ daily needs and enjoyment. Retailers sell merchandise directly to consumers while F&B operators provide prepared food and drinks for consumption on premises or takeaway. The Retail Sales Index (RSI) and Food & Beverage Services Index (FSI) measure the performance of the Retail Trade and F&B services industries in Singapore respectively, based on the monthly sales of businesses (which include online sales) in these industries. The key indicators also include a snapshot of the proportion of sales conducted online.

Earlier, the source wrote:

The Retail Sales Index (RSI) and Food & Beverage Services Index (FSI) measure the short-term performance of retail and food & beverage (F&B) services industries based on the sales records of retail and F&B services establishments. Sales figure refers to the value of retail goods or food & beverages sold to consumers during the month, excluding taxes on products such as Goods and Services Tax (GST), Additional Registration Fee (ARF) and Certificates of Entitlement (COE). The RSI and FSI are presented at both current prices and constant prices. The indices at current prices measure the changes of sales values which can result from changes in both price and quantity. By removing the price effect, the indices at constant prices measure the changes in the volume of economic activity.

Data collection

Data for the compilation of the indices are primarily obtained from the results of the monthly surveys of retail and F&B services establishments respectively. Retail establishments refer to those selling merchandise directly to the consumers. F&B services establishments are those selling prepared food and drinks for in-premises consumption or on a take-away basis.

Index compilation

To derive the RSI/FSI at detailed industry level, the monthly sales for that industry is divided by the average monthly sales for the same industry in the base year. The overall RSI/FSI is then computed by combining the sales indices of the detailed industries, using the weights to measure each industry’s relative importance in the overall retail/F&B services industry. To derive the indices at constant prices, the sales indices at current prices at detailed industry level are first deflated by appropriate price indices. These component indices at constant prices are then weighted and aggregated to derive the overall indices at constant prices.

Seasonal adjustment

Seasonal effects are observed in both the RSI and FSI as there are usually intra-year periodic variations that repeat during the fixed period of time every year. To better reflect the underlying trend of the monthly sales, both indices are seasonally adjusted to remove the seasonal effects.

Changes to methodology

As of 14 March 2010, the following changes were imposed by the source:

• Rebased from 2010 from 2005.
• Reclassified to reflect changes in industry structure, to SSIC 2010 from SSIC 2005.
• Coverage and weights have been reviewed and updated.

As of January 2020, constant-price data has been replaced with chained prices.

Moody's Analytics supplements

As of August 2012, for the all-items value and volume indexes, we construct seasonally adjusted counterparts using the X-12ARIMA program.

As of March 2026, we back-extend most series: 1985m1 to 1998m10, 1985m1 to 1998m11, or 1993m1 to 1998m11.

As of 2026, the principal activity of each firm is identified according to SSIC 2025, which adopts the basic framework of UN ISIC Rev. 5; see paragraphs 15 to 21 of "Rebasing of the Retail Sales and Food & Beverage Services Indices (2025=100)." The published data are industry groupings over five-digit SSIC branches (in the U.S. BOC retail survey, these are called "kind of store"). In Data Buffet's description metadata and catalog listing, the industry grouping is textual and the SSIC components are numeric and enclosed in square brackets.

Further reading

At the source:

• Press Release: Retail Sales Index and Food & Beverage Services Index - January 2026 (pdf)
• Rebasing of the Retail Sales and Food & Beverage Services Indices (2025=100)
• Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) 2025

Data tables at the source:

• https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M602121
• https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M602122
• https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M602201
• https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/TS/M602202

• Sep 2005 - Initial version.
• Mar 2011 - Rebased to 2010.
• Aug 2012 - Addendum of SA supplement.
• Apr 2015 - Rebased to 2014.
• Mar 2018 - Rebased to 2017.
• Apr 2020 - Inflation method changed from constant to chained.
• 18 Mar 2026, Phillip Thorne - Rebased to 2025: Properties, Changes to methodology, Moody's Analytics supplements, Further reading.