SINGAPORE'S economy grew 4.4 per cent in the final quarter of 2013 from a year ago, but expansion in key sectors moderated from the previous three months.

Advance estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Thursday morning showed that the economy shrank 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the third quarter.

Sectors like manufacturing, construction and services all grew in the final three months of 2013 from the same period a year ago, but shrank on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

That brought the Republic's full-year expansion to a total of 3.7 per cent, near the upper end of the official forecast of between 3.5 to 4 per cent growth.

The Government expects the economy to expand between 2 to 4 per cent in 2014.