Recent Trends and Outlook for Singapore's Services and Merchandise Exports

Services exports are playing a more important role in the Singapore economy. As we have highlighted in a previous box article, the value-added (VA) contribution of services exports to the economy increased considerably in recent years, while the VA contribution of goods exports has remained stable over the same period.

The growing importance of services exports reflects a structural shift in the economy towards services. Exportable services industries, such as finance & insurance and wholesale trade, continue to grow, while manufacturing industries are also becoming increasingly services-oriented with knowledge- and skill-intensive activities. This increasing importance of services exports translates into increasing VA contributions to the Singapore economy because services exports generate more VA per dollar than merchandise exports.

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