According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s (MTI) advanced estimates released on January 2, Singapore’s economy grew 0.7 per cent in 2019, with a 0.8 per cent growth on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2019. The annual growth is down from 2018’s growth rate of 3.1 per cent.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy expanded at a slower pace of 0.1 per cent compared to the 2.4 per cent growth in Q3.
MTI added that the manufacturing sector contracted by 2.1 per cent in Q4 due to output declines in the electronics, chemicals and transport engineering clusters. The decline more than offset output expansions in the precision engineering, biomedical manufacturing and general manufacturing clusters.
Meanwhile, the construction sector grew by 2.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, supported by public sector construction activities. The services producing industries expanded by 1.4 per cent, primarily supported by the finance & insurance sector, the other services industries, and the business services sector. On the other hand, the wholesale & retail trade sector contracted in tandem with the weakness in exports and retail sales performance.