SINGAPORE, 2 JAN 2018 – Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, boost by robust manufacturing growth.
GDP rose at a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 2.8 percent from the previous three months, according to preliminary figures from the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry’s (MTI) advance estimate out on Tuesday.
The manufacturing sector expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, moderating from a 19.2 percent growth in the previous quarter. According to the ministry, growth was supported primarily by robust output expansions in the electronics and precision engineering clusters, which outweighed output declines in the biomedical manufacturing and transport engineering clusters.
Singapore’s services producing industries grew 3 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, moderating from a 3.2-percent growth in the third quarter. In 2017, the sector grew 2.5 percent year-on-year, faster than a 1-percent growth in 2016.
The construction sector contracted 8.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, extending a 7.7-percent decline in the previous quarter. The contraction was largely due to the weakness in private sector construction activities. In 2017, the sector declined 8.1 percent year-on-year, compared to a 0.2-percent growth in 2016.
