Question

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what was the rationale for publishing indigenous Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and indigenous Gross National Income (GNI) in the past and the timeframe in which such data was published; (b) when did the Department of Statistics (DOS) cease compilation of the indigenous GDP and indigenous GNI series; and (c) whether the Government has or is able to make available historical data as part of the Government agencies' Open Data efforts.

Written Answer by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan

1. Indigenous GDP and indigenous GNI are not national accounts concepts nor part of reporting standards stipulated by international organisations such as the IMF and World Bank. They are also not compiled by other countries. The Department of Statistics (DOS) had first compiled these statistics in the early years of Singapore’s economic development to track the contributions of Singaporeans to GDP and GNI. Both series were published for the first time in 1978, with data for reference years 1967 to 1977.

2. Due to the lack of public interest in the two series, DOS decided to cease the publication and compilation of both series for public use with effect from data for reference years 2011 and 2016 respectively, so that resources can be diverted to the compilation of other statistics with greater demand.

3. DOS can provide historical data for reference years 1967 to 2016 to the public upon request.