A release from Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) indicated that the economy grew by 2.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2018, easing slightly from the 2.3 per cent growth in the preceding quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy expanded at a slower pace of 1.6 per cent compared to the 3.5 per cent growth in the third quarter.
For 2018 as a whole, the economy grew by 3.3 per cent.
The manufacturing sector expanded by 5.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, faster than the 3.7 per cent growth in the previous quarter. Growth was largely driven by robust output expansions in the biomedical manufacturing and electronics clusters, which more than offset the output decline in the precision engineering cluster. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally- adjusted annualised basis, the manufacturing sector shrank by 8.7 per cent, a reversal from the 3.1 per cent growth in the third quarter.
The construction sector contracted by 2.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, extending the 2.5 per cent decline in the previous quarter. The contraction was primarily due to weakness in public sector construction activities. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the sector grew at a weaker pace of 1.1 per cent compared to the 3.3 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.
The services producing industries expanded by 1.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, moderating from the 2.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter. Growth was mainly supported by the finance & insurance, business services and information & communications sectors. On a quarter-on- quarter basis, the services producing industries grew at a seasonally-adjusted annualised rate of 3.7 per cent, slower than the 5.3 per cent growth in the third quarter.
MTI will release the preliminary GDP estimates for the fourth quarter and the whole of 2018, including performance by sectors, sources of growth, inflation, employment and productivity, in its Economic Survey of Singapore in February 2019.
