Summary:

The pandemic has changed consumers’ habit. The overall retail sales in Singapore have recovered to the pre-pandemic level, but some sectors are still lagging. Instead of dining in the restaurants, some have opted to buy more from the supermarkets. The greater dispersion in retail sales indices imply reallocations of consumption among Singaporean consumers. Whether or not such consumption pattern will persist remains to be seen.

Highlights:

• The overall retail sales have recovered to the pre-pandemic level. Some sectors are still below the pre-pandemic level as of April 2022. Others have recovered to higher levels. There are signs of consumption reallocations.
• Instead of dining in the restaurants, households have consumed more from the supermarkets. The Food & Beverages sector was not the hardest hit during the circuit breaker but became one as COVID-related measures were lifted. This was due to that containment measures targeted at restaurants were among the last to be lifted.
• There is an uptick in Food & Beverages sales since 2022. Whether or not the Food & Beverages sector will recover to the pre-pandemic level remains to be seen.

Article By Taojun XIE

Graphic By Yixuan GE