SINGAPORE (July 14): Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) slumped 12.6% y-o-y in 2Q20, according to advance estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday.
The decline was said to be attributable to the circuit breaker measures that were implemented from April 7 to June 1.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank by 41.2% in 2Q20.
The latest figures were lower than economists’ forecasts of an average 11.3% contraction.
In May, MTI cut Singapore’s GDP growth forecast for FY20 to between -7% to -4%.
See: Singapore economy faces worst recession since independence with growth expected to fall between -7% and -4% : MTI
Singapore’s GDP came in at -0.3% for 1Q20, and at 0.2% in 2Q19.
The manufacturing sector was the only one to register positive growth at a 2.5% increase for 2Q20, down from the 8.2% growth in the previous quarter.
The growth was mainly due to a surge in output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster.
On the other hand, weak external demand and workplace disruptions during the circuit breaker period impacted output on the chemicals, transport engineering, and general manufacturing clusters.
Construction plunged 54.7% y-o-y, while services producing industries fell 13.6% y-o-y in the second quarter this year.
Construction output weakened due to the circuit breaker measures, which stopped most construction activities. The decline was also attributable to manpower disruptions that came about from additional measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, as well as movement restrictions in the foreign worker dormitories.
The services producing industries were impacted due to global and domestic travel restrictions, which affected tourism-related sectors, and the air transport sector. Food, retail, and business services were also significantly affected by the circuit breaker measures, which saw the suspension of non-essential services.
The preliminary GDP estimates will be released by MTI in August 2020.
See also: 2Q20 GDP data likely to emerge on upside despite uncertainties: Oxford Economics, and Singapore to be among the last in the region to return to pre-virus GDP levels: Morgan Stanley
