Singapore recorded a GDP growth of 3.6% in 2017, driven by the manufacturing segment.
Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 3.6 percent year-on-year for the whole of 2017, according to latest statistics released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Wednesday (February 14).
Not only is this the country’s highest economic growth since 2014, it also exceeded the 2.4 percent gain in 2016 and MTI’s forecast of 3.5 percent.
The positive performance was driven by the city-state’s manufacturing segment, which improved by 10.1 percent last year, up from the 3.7 percent uptick in 2016.
“Growth was largely driven by the electronics and precision engineering clusters, even as the biomedical manufacturing, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters contracted,” the ministry said.
On the other hand, Singapore’s construction sector contracted by 8.4 percent in 2017, reversing the 1.9 percent growth in the previous year.
“Output in the sector was primarily weighed down by the weakness in private sector construction works, which contracted by 29.1 percent on the back of a decline in private residential and private industrial works.”
Looking ahead, MTI expects the economy to grow at a moderated pace this year, but still remain firm at slightly above the middle of its forecast range of 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent.
“However, the performance of the construction sector is likely to remain lacklustre in 2018 as the earlier weakness in construction demand, particularly from the private sector, continues to weigh on construction activities in the sector,” it added.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
