Singapore's GDP Contracted by 12.6 Per Cent in the Second Quarter of 2020

14 July 2020. Based on advance estimates, the Singapore economy contracted by 12.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the second quarter of 2020, due to the Circuit Breaker (CB) measures that were implemented from 7 April to 1 June to slow the spread of COVID-19, which included the suspension of nonessential services and closure of most workplace premises, as well as weak external demand amidst a global economic downturn precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank by 41.2 per cent in the second quarter.

Sectoral Performance

The manufacturing sector grew by 2.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the second quarter, slower than the 8.2 per cent growth in the previous quarter. Growth during the quarter was primarily due to a surge in output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster. On the other hand, weak external demand and workplace disruptions during the CB period weighed on output in the chemicals, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the manufacturing sector shrank by 23.1 per cent, a sharp reversal from the 45.5 per cent expansion in the preceding quarter.

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MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
14 July 2020