Singapore's gross domestic product expanded 14.3 percent on year in the second quarter of 2021, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in Wednesday's advance estimate.
That beat forecasts for an increase of 14.2 percent and was up sharply from the 1.3 percent gain in the previous three months.
On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP contracted 2.0 percent after expanding 3.1 percent in the three months prior.
The manufacturing sector expanded 18.5 percent on year in the second quarter, extending the 11.3 percent growth in the previous quarter. Growth was supported by output expansions in all clusters except for the biomedical manufacturing cluster. The bureau said. In particular, the electronics and precision engineering clusters continued to see healthy expansions due to robust global demand for semiconductor and semiconductor equipment respectively. On a quarterly basis, the manufacturing sector contracted by 1.8 percent, a pullback from the 11.4 percent expansion in the first quarter.
The construction sector skyrocketed 98.8 percent on year in Q2, a turnaround from the 23.1 percent contraction in the preceding quarter. The sharp upturn was due to low base effects as the CB measures had resulted in a stoppage of most construction activities in the second quarter of last year. In absolute terms, the value-added of the sector remained 31.6 percent below its pre-pandemic (i.e., second quarter of 2019) level. On a quarterly basis, the construction sector shrank by 11.0 percent in the second quarter, a reversal from the 4.5 percent spike in the previous quarter.
Among the services sectors, the wholesale & retail trade and transportation & storage sectors grew by 9.3 percent in Q2, reversing the 1.7 percent loss in the previous quarter. All sectors within this group of sectors expanded during the quarter. Growth of the retail and transportation & storage sectors, in particular, was supported by a low base as strict domestic and border restrictions during the CB had led to a sharp decline in activity in these sectors in the second quarter of last year. On the whole, the value-added of this group of sectors (i.e., wholesale & retail trade and transportation & storage) remained 6.8 percent below its pre-pandemic (i.e., second quarter of 2019) level. On a quarterly basis, the sectors contracted 0.4 percent in the second quarter, in contrast to the 3.4 percent growth in the first quarter.
The information & communications, finance & insurance and professional services sectors collectively expanded by 7.8 percent in the second quarter, extending the 3.2 percent growth in the preceding quarter. All sectors in this group recorded healthy expansions. The growth of the professional services sector was partly due to the low base caused by the CB last year, even as weak economic activity in the region and sluggish domestic construction activity continued to weigh on the sector during the quarter. On a quarterly basis, the sectors in the group grew 0.4 percent in Q2, a reversal from the 1.2 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
The remaining group of services sectors (i.e., accommodation & food services, real estate, administrative & support services and other services sectors) expanded 13.4 percent in the second quarter, a turnaround from the 3.8 percent contraction in the previous quarter. Most sectors within the group grew on the back of a low base in the second quarter of last year due to the CB. On the whole, the value-added of this group of sectors remained 11.8 percent below its level in the second quarter of 2019. In particular, the recovery of the food services and other services sectors in the second quarter of 2021 was weighed down by the tightening of restrictions during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), such as the prohibition of dining-in and reduction in the operating capacity of attractions. On a quarterly basis, the sectors in the group contracted by 3.0 percent in Q2, extending the 1.3 percent contraction in the first quarter.
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