SINGAPORE - The Singapore economy grew by 2.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year, marginally higher than the 2.1 per cent expansion in the first quarter and matching analysts' expectations, according to advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Thursday (July 14).
On a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, gross domestic product (GDP) for the April-June period expanded 0.8 per cent as manufacturing recovered, surpassing the 0.2 per cent growth in the previous quarter.
The manufacturing sector expanded by 0.8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, reversing the 0.5 per cent decline in the first quarter. Growth was supported by an increase in the output of the biomedical manufacturing and electronics clusters, said MTI.
Quarter-on-quarter, factory output grew 0.3 per cent, following the 18.4 per cent growth in the first quarter.
Growth in the services sector came in at 1.7 per cent in the second quarter, the same pace of growth as in the first quarter. Growth was driven mainly by the wholesale & retail trade and transportation & storage sectors.
Within the retail trade sector, growth was supported by strong motor vehicle sales. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the services sector grew by 0.5 per cent, reversing the 4.8 per cent contraction in the preceding quarter.
The construction sector grew by 2.7 per cent year-on-year, easing from the 4.5 per cent expansion in the previous quarter. This was largely due to a slowdown in private sector construction, said MTI. Quarter-on-quarter, the sector expanded 0.6 per cent, lower than the 3.5 per cent growth in the first quarter.
The advance GDP estimates are computed largely from data in the first two months of the quarter and are subject to revision when more comprehensive data becomes available.
MTI will release the preliminary GDP estimates for the second quarter, including performance by sectors, sources of growth, inflation, employment and productivity, in its Economic Survey of Singapore in August 2016.
