Manufacturing woes, tourism troubles weigh on Singapore’s growth in Q1

These sectors were the worst performers.

Singapore’s better-than-expected GDP expansion in Q1 was marred by the underperformance of the manufacturing and hospitality sectors.

Data released today by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed that the manufacturing sector contracted by 2.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, extending its 1.3% decline in Q4.

This was primarily due to the decline in the output of the transport engineering, electronics and biomedical manufacturing clusters.

Meanwhile, the accommodation & food services sector contracted by 0.4% in the first quarter compared to the 1.3% expansion in Q4.

The decline was largely due to the 6.1% year-on-year decline in visitor arrivals during the same period.

These were the only sectors which booked a year-on-year contraction in Q1.

For instance, a pick-up in private sector construction activities drove the construction sector’s 3.1% growth, a faster pace of expansion compared to the 0.7% growth recorded in the previous quarter.

Higher non-oil re-exports led the wholesale & retail trade sector’s 4.1% year-on-year growth, faster than the 0.6% growth in Q4.

The transportation & storage sector rebounded to post growth of 1.5% year-on-year, driven by an increase in sea cargo handled. This compares favourably to the 0.4% decline in the previous quarter.

Growth in the IT & technology services segment caused the information & communications sector to expand at a faster pace of 4.6% year-on-year, compared to the 4.4% growth in the previous quarter.

Growth in the finance & insurance sector was underpinned by the banking cluster. The sector expanded by 7.9% year-on-year, following the 10.3%growth in the preceding quarter.

The business services sector grew by 2.8% year-on-year, similar to the 2.9% growth in the previous quarter

The “other services industries” grew by 2% year-on-year, slower than the 2.4% growth in the previous quarter. Growth of the sector was weighed down by the arts, entertainment & recreation segment.