Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales in Singapore declined 9.2 per cent in February compared to February 2013.

Sales of apparel and footwear, watches and jewellery, medical goods and toiletries, provision and sundry shops, department stores, telecommunications apparatus and computers, and furniture and household equipment rose between 1.4 per cent and 8.9 per cent in February 2014 compared to the previous month.

However, that growth was offset by the 21.2 per cent decline of sales at supermarkets.

Retailers of food and beverages, optical goods and books, recreational goods and petrol service stations also saw a sales decline of 2.7 per cent to eight per cent over the same period.