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Singapore's GDP grew by 7.2 per cent in 2021, rebounding from a contraction of 5.4 per cent in 2020, according to advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Bloomberg highlighted that this figure is the highest for Singapore, since 2010.

In addition, GDP also grew by 5.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2021 and by 2.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis in the same quarter.

In comparison, the third quarter of 2021 saw Singapore's GDP grow by 7.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis and by 1.2 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis.

How did the different sectors perform?

Manufacturing

MTI reported that the manufacturing sector, according to advance estimates, grew 14 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, on a year-on-year basis, compared to 7.9 per cent in the third quarter and by 12.8 per cent for the entire 2021.

On a quarter-by-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, this figure stands at 4.2 per cent which is an improvement of 0.2 per cent from the previous quarter.

This growth was supported by output expansions in all clusters within the sector.

In particular, the electronics and precision engineering clusters continued to record strong output growth due to sustained global demand for semiconductors and their equipment.

Construction

As for the construction sector, it grew by 2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 66.3 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

MTI further noted that the strong growth of the construction sector in the third quarter was mainly due to low base effects given the slow resumption of construction activities after the Circuit Breaker last year.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the sector contracted by 4.4 per cent in the fourth quarter, a reversal from the 4.9 per cent growth in the third quarter.

According to MTI, while construction grew by 18.7 per cent in 2021, in absolute terms, the sector's value-added remained at 26 per cent below its pre-Covid-19 level (fourth quarter of 2019) due to border entry restrictions on migrant workers causing labour shortages at construction worksites.

Wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage

Here, MTI stated that these sectors, as a group, grew by 4.3 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, extending the previous quarter's 6.1 per cent improvement.

The group also grew by 4.3 per cent for the whole year of 2021.

The ministry said that the wholesale and retail sector posted "steady growth" in tandem with the "robust performance" of Singapore’s merchandise exports.

As for the transportation and storage sector, its growth was partly due to low base effects, as travel restrictions had weighed heavily on the air transport segment in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The value-added for these sectors remained at 2.3 per cent below its pre-pandemic level.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the sectors grew by 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, a turnaround from the 0.6 per cent contraction in the preceding quarter.

Infocomms, finance and insurance, professional services

For these three sectors, MTI said that their collective growth was six per cent, year-on-year, for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 8 per cent in the third quarter.

All sectors within this group recorded expansions.

The information and communications sector continued to benefit from strong demand for IT and digital solutions and "robust" games and software publishing activities, while the finance and insurance sector was partly bolstered in part by fund management activities.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the sectors in this group posted a growth figure of 3.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, greater than the 1.5 per cent expansion registered in the preceding quarter.

As for the whole year of 2021, the group posted a growth figure of 6.8 per cent.

Accommodation and food, real estate, administrative and support, others

As for the remaining sectors consisting of accommodation and food, real estate, administrative and support as well as other services, the ministry gave a year-on-year figure of 3.1 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2021, extending the 3.8 per cent growth from the previous quarter.

Within this group, all of the sectors experienced expansion except for the accommodation and food services sector.

MTI added that the weak performance of the accommodation and food services sector was largely due to ongoing travel restrictions, as well as tighter domestic restrictions, such as limits on group sizes for dining in, during the quarter as compared to the same period in 2020.

Overall, the value-added of the group remained 7.1 per cent below the pre-Covid-19 level in the fourth quarter of 2019.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, these sectors expanded by 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, improving from the 1.5 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

As for the whole of 2021, the group grew by four per cent.

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Top image by Zhu Hongzhi via Unsplash