A woman wearing a face mask as a preventative measure against the spread of the COVID-19 new coronavirus will walk along the promenade at Marina Bay in Singapore on May 4, 2020.
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s economy expected less than expected in 2020 as activity increased further in the fourth quarter following the easing of restrictions on Covid, the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s forecasts showed on Monday.
The Southeast Asian economy shrank by 5.8% in 2020 compared to the previous year, the ministry said. This is better than the official forecast for an annual contraction of between 6% and 6.5%.
In the last quarter of last year, the Singapore economy shrank by 3.8% compared to a year ago – an improvement from the revised 5.6% year-on-year contraction in the third quarter, the ministry said .
On a seasonally adjusted basis on a quarter-on-quarter basis, Singapore’s gross domestic product or GDP grew by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, down from 9.5% growth in the previous three months.
Singapore’s trade – dependent economy was hit by strong activity last year when countries worldwide introduced lock-in measures to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Domestically, Singapore has implemented ‘power outages’ in early April and has been lifting them since early June – although some measures have remained in place, such as mandatory mask wearing in public places. This led to the resumption of most economic activities in the city-state.
Here’s how the different sectors performed according to official estimates in the fourth quarter:
- Commodity-producing industries grew by 3.3% compared to the previous year, with production expanding by 9.5% year-on-year;
- The construction sector recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of contraction, but the year-on-year contraction of 28.5% was better than the previous quarter;
- Service-producing industries also continued to shrink for the fourth consecutive quarter, recording a 6.8% year-on-year contraction.
The forecasts for the fourth quarter are largely based on data from October and November. The Ministry of Trade and Industry will announce an update of the data in February.