Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Singapore's Services Export

Prior to the pandemic, Singapore’s services exports saw healthy growth that outpaced the growth in merchandise exports

The services sector plays an important role in Singapore’s economy, and this is reflected in the rising contribution of services exports. Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Singapore’s services exports growth was healthy, averaging 8.9 per cent per annum, between 2010 and 2019. Notably, over this period, the growth in services exports had consistently outpaced that in merchandise exports (Exhibit 1). As a result, the value of services exports rose steadily from around 28.7 per cent of the value of merchandise exports in 2011 to approximately 55.2 per cent by 2019. 

However, services exports shrank by 1.6 per cent in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, before rebounding by 6.7 per cent in 2021. This article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Singapore’s services exports in more detail.

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