Domestic wholesale sales fall 6.9% in Q1

Foreign wholesale sales rose 3.6%, supported by demand for computer hardware and electronic chips.

Domestic wholesale sales fell 6.9% YoY to $107.0b in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics.

Excluding petroleum, domestic wholesale sales rose 9.3% to $49.3b.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, domestic wholesale sales declined 11.9%. Excluding petroleum, sales fell 1.7% from the previous quarter.

The decline was led by lower sales in the household equipment and furniture industry, which fell 20.4% due to weaker demand for audio and video equipment.

Sales in the petroleum and petroleum products industry declined 17.3%, whilst metals, timber and construction materials fell 13.7%, driven by weaker sales of crude oil and metals.

This was partly offset by general wholesale trade, where domestic sales rose 68.9% on continued growth in commodity trading activities.

Meanwhile, foreign wholesale sales increased 3.6% YoY to $977.2b in Q1. Excluding petroleum, foreign wholesale sales grew 14.6% to $592.8b.

Foreign sales were supported by the telecommunications and computers industry, which recorded the strongest growth at 49.5% on sustained demand for computer hardware and accessories.

Electronic components sales also rose 46.5%, driven by higher sales of electronic chips.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, foreign wholesale sales increased 1.4%, whilst foreign sales excluding petroleum rose 5.7%.

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