Singapore  - Singapore's retail sales in October 2008 fell 6.8 per cent from September, the Statistics Department said Monday.

On a year-on-year basis, retail sales declined by 3.6 per cent over a year ago. The volume of retail sales fell by 8.5 per cent after removing price effect, the department said.

The biggest drop was in October motor vehicles sales which fell 20 per cent compared to September.

Retailers of telecommunications equipment and computers reported month-to-month lower turnover of 17.5 per cent.

But October catering trade rose by 4.6 per cent from September.

Total October retail sales value was estimated at 2.7 billion Singapore dollars (1.83 billion US dollars), down from 2.9 billion Singapore dollars in September. (dpa)