Singapore’s GDP Contracted by 2.2 Per Cent in the First Quarter of 2020. MTI Downgrades 2020 GDP Growth Forecast to "-4.0 to -1.0 Per Cent"

26 March 2020. Based on advance estimates, the Singapore economy contracted by 2.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter of 2020, reversing the 1.0 per cent growth in the preceding quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank by 10.6 per cent, a sharp pullback from the 0.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter.

Economic Performance in First Quarter 2020

The manufacturing sector contracted by 0.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis inthe first quarter, moderating from the 2.3 per cent contraction in the previous quarter. The performance of the sector was weighed down by output declines in the electronics and chemicals clusters, which more than offset output expansions in the biomedical manufacturing and precision engineering clusters. The weakness of the sector likely reflects a fall in external demand as global economic activity has slowed due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the sector expanded by 4.2 per cent, a turnaround from the 5.9 per cent decline in the preceding quarter.

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MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
26 MARCH 2020