Singapore's food and beverage sales rise by 4.5% YoY in December
Total sales value was estimated at SG$925 million, with growth felt across the board.
Amidst a decline in retail sales, eateries in Singapore did considerably better in 2018, according to the latest report of the country’s Department of Statistics (SingStat).
Overall sales of food and beverage in December rose by 4.5% year on year to SG$925 million, compared to $886 million in the same period last year.
Caterers in the island-nation were the biggest gainers at 6.6%, followed fast food outlets at 5.9%.
Restaurants, meanwhile, experienced 5% improvement whilst other eating places such as cafes were at 2.5%.
On a monthly, seasonally adjusted bases, the sector saw a mild 0.6% improvement. Breaking it down, food caterers reported increase in sales by 5%, restaurants were at 3.1% whilst fast food outlets notched 0.3% gains. In contrast, turnover of other eating places declined 3.4%.
The report comes amidst the aforementioned slump in the retail sector, which fell by 6% in December.
In an earlier report, SingStat also said that the food and beverage sector is among some services industries that are optimistic in their revenue outlook for the first quarter of 2019 whilst expecting hiring levels to rise in the same period.
Last year, Euromonitor forecasted that Asia Pacific will continue to outperform North America in terms of growth in the coming years to 2021, driven by "increased acceptance of fast food" and the rise in disposable income.
