Singapore F&B Sales Surge 22% in January on CNY Boost

The days of pandemic-related struggles among hawker centres and Singaporeans being hesitant about eating out are further lodged in the back seat amidst the city-state’s continuous economic recovery, recently buoyed by the shopping spree during the Chinese New Year. The latest indication is the Department of Statistics’ (DOS) Food & Beverage (F&B) Services Index for January 2023, signaling that Singaporeans are outside and eating again.

According to the report, F&B sales surged 21.8% year over year (YOY) in January, following a 13.9% increase in the prior month. Growth was partly attributed to the Chinese New Year, which fell on end-January. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up 2% in January from the prior month.

For further breakdown, here are the changes in each sector:

Food caterers are the biggest winners, although not all is green among these large-scale food vendors. Sales in this segment increased 110.2% from the previous year, but were down 7.7% compared to the previous month. The DOS attributed the surge to “higher demand for both event and in-flight catering, with the easing of restrictions on large-scale events, international travel as well as social gatherings.”

Meanwhile, fast food outlets and cafés, food courts, and other eating places saw their turnover rose between 11.5% and 21.7%.

Last February, DBS Singapore launched a S$3 subsidy every Friday for hawker transactions made through their PayLah app. Such initiatives could only have been helpful in keeping the customers flowing in the F&B industry (hawker centres, in particular).

View the entire report here, which includes insight into the retail sector.