[ad_1]
A woman, wearing a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, walks along the Marina Bay waterfront in Singapore on May 4, 2020.
Facebook Facebook logo Sign in to Facebook to connect with Roslan Rahman AFP | fake images
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s economy contracted less than expected in 2020 as activity rebounded further in the fourth quarter following the easing of Covid-related restrictions, early estimates from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Monday. .
The Southeast Asian economy contracted 5.8% in 2020 compared to the previous year, the ministry said. That’s better than the official forecast for an annual contraction of between 6% and 6.5%.
In the final quarter of last year, Singapore’s economy contracted 3.8% compared to the previous year, an improvement from the revised 5.6% year-on-year contraction in the third quarter, the ministry said.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, Singapore’s gross domestic product or GDP grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter, slowing the 9.5% growth of the previous three months, it added.
Singapore’s trade-dependent economy was hit by a drop in activity last year as countries imposed global lockdown measures to slow the spread of Covid-19.
At the national level, Singapore implemented “circuit breaker” measures in early April and began lifting them since early June, although some measures have been maintained, such as the mandatory use of masks in public places. That allowed most of the economic activity to resume in the city-state.
This is how the different sectors performed in the fourth quarter, according to official estimates:
- Goods-producing industries grew 3.3% compared to the previous year, and manufacturing expanded 9.5% year-on-year;
- The construction sector recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of contraction, but the year-on-year contraction of 28.5% was better than the previous quarter;
- Service-producing industries also continued to contract for the fourth consecutive quarter, registering a year-on-year contraction of 6.8%.
Advance estimates for the fourth quarter are largely based on data for October and November. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry will publish an update to the data in February.
