A woman, wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, walks along the Marina Bay promenade in Singapore on May 4, 2020.
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s economy shrank by less than expected in 2020 as activity picked up further in the fourth quarter following the relaxation of Covid-related restrictions, earlier estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed.
The Southeast Asian economy shrank by 5.8% in 2020 from the year before, the ministry said. That is better than the official forecast for an annual contraction of between 6% and 6.5%.
In the last quarter of last year, Singapore’s economy contracted 3.8% from a year ago – an improvement from its revised 5.6% year-on-year contraction in the third quarter, it said. ministry.
Seasonally adjusted quarterly, Singapore’s gross domestic product or GDP grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter – a slowdown of 9.5% growth in the previous three months, it added.
Singapore’s trade-dependent economy was hit by a sharp drop in activity last year as countries worldwide imposed lockdown measures to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Domestically, Singapore implemented “circuit breaker” measures in early April and began lifting them since early June – although some measures have remained, such as mandatory mask wearing in public places. This allowed most of the economic activity to resume in the city-state.
This is how the different sectors performed in the fourth quarter, according to official estimates:
- The goods producing industries grew by 3.3% compared to the previous year, while production grew 9.5% year over year;
- The construction sector contracted for its fourth straight quarter, but the 28.5% year-on-year contraction was better than the previous quarter;
- The service manufacturing industries also continued to contract for the fourth straight quarter, contracting 6.8% year-on-year.
Fourth quarter forecasts are largely based on October and November data. The Ministry of Trade and Industry will update the data in February.