SINGAPORE — Singapore’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter of 2021, mainly aided by robust growth in goods-producing industries and manufacturing.
Gross domestic product expanded 5.9% in the October-to-December period from a year earlier, according to advance estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday. That beat the 4.55% expected by six economists in a Wall Street Journal survey. However, the figure slowed from a revised 7.1% in the third quarter.
Manufacturing grew 14.0% in the fourth quarter, up from 7.9% the previous quarter. Growth in manufacturing was supported by output expansions in all sectors, the MTI said. Goods-producing industries expanded 12.2% in the fourth quarter, extending the prior quarter’s 11.7% growth.
Construction grew 2.0%, slowing sharply from the 66.3% expansion marked in the third quarter. Services-producing industries expanded 4.6%, compared with 6.2% previously.
On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 2.6% in the fourth quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. That compared with a revised 1.2% expansion in the third quarter.
For the whole of 2021, Singapore’s economy grew 7.2%, the advance estimate showed. That compared with a revised 5.4% contraction in 2020 and the median estimate for 6.95% growth expected by eight economists in the WSJ survey.
