GDP grows by 16.9% but service sector lags

The Singapore economy may have grown 16.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010, but advance estimates show services producing industries will have the least improvement for Q2.

Advance GDP estimates for the second quarter of 2010, computed largely from data for April and May, show Q2 growth for services producing industries at only 11.4 percent. Expansion for the said sector was by 11.2 percent for the first quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile the highest advance estimate goes to the manufacturing sector, with growth expected to be at 45.5 percent compared to 38.2 for the first quarter.

"The manufacturing sector is estimated to have grown by 45.5 percent year-on-year. Growth was driven by a surge in the output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster, as well as a strong expansion in the electronics cluster underpinned by healthy worldwide demand for electronics products," said an announcement by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

However, the strong growth experienced by the Singapore economy in the first half of 2010 is not likely to be sustained into the second half of the year, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The Ministry said, "There will also be industry-specific factors, such as plant maintenance shutdowns in the biomedical manufacturing cluster, that will drag down growth. While year-on-year growth rates in the second half will be healthy, sequential growth from current levels of economic activity will be low."