Singapore - Singapore's retail sales dived in January as shoppers turned their backs on expensive goods amid the city-state's worst recession in decades.

Retail sales in January were 12.2 per cent lower than in the same period last year, the Department of Statistics said in a statement Friday.

Compared with January 2008, the drops in sales of motor vehicles, watches and jewellery, furniture, household equipment and technical items varied from 14.5 per cent to 31.7 per cent.

But supermarkets, department stores, and food and beverage retailers posted sales growth of 9.6 to 20.4 per cent.

The sharp decline in retail sales was another bad omen for Singapore's shrinking economy, which depends heavily on exports.

In January, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports suffered a year-on-year fall of 35 per cent on the global economic slowdown and waning demand for electronics and other goods in key overseas markets.

On an annualized, seasonally adjusted basis, the island state's gross domestic product (GDP) slumped by 16.4 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The government expected Singapore's GDP to shrink by 2 to 5 per cent this year, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew have warned the slump could be even worse. (dpa)