Singapore's domestic wholesale trade remains flat in Q4

Domestic wholesale trade in Singapore was flat in the fourth quarter of 2016 on a year-on-year basis, said Department of Statistics Singapore (SingStat) on Monday in its latest report.

Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade fell 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year, said SingStat. After adjusting for price changes, overall domestic wholesale trade registered a year-on-year decrease of 7.4 percent.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, domestic wholesale trade expanded by 10.3 percent in the fourth quarter over the previous one, partly due to higher prices of petroleum and chemical products. Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale trade increased 5.3 percent. After removing the price effect, overall domestic wholesale trade grew by 0.5 percent over the previous quarter.

As for foreign wholesale trade, it increased 9.1 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2016. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade grew by 10.4 percent. After adjusting for price changes, overall foreign wholesale trade increased 1.8 percent year-on-year.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, foreign wholesale trade rose 9.1 percent in the fourth quarter this year. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale trade expanded by 7.7 percent over the previous quarter. After removing the price effect, overall foreign wholesale trade registered a decrease of 0.5 percent.

Wholesale Trade Index (WTI), composed of two series, namely domestic WTI and foreign WTI, measures the short-term performance of wholesale trade activities. The indices are presented at both current prices and constant prices.

The indices at current prices measure the changes in sales value 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 sales volume.