Singapore’s third-quarter GDP growth revised up to 1.1%

Singapore’s economy has expanded at a final annual rate of 1.1% in the third quarter of 2023, Statistics Singapore reported.

The figure represents an upward revision from a preliminary GDP growth estimate of 0.7%.

It also marked the 11th consecutive quarter of GDP expansion and the sharpest growth rate since the final quarter of 2022. The data added to signs that Singapore’s recovery was gaining traction.

Singapore’s services sector continued to demonstrate growth (up 2.3% year-on-year versus 2.8% year-on-year in the second quarter), driven by sustained increases in wholesale & retail trade, transportation & storage, information & communications.

Activity in the city-state’s construction sector also expanded (6.3% YoY versus 7.7% YoY in Q2), underpinned by growth in both public and private sector output.

Meanwhile, activity in the manufacturing sector decreased at a much softer pace in Q3 (-4.6% YoY versus -7.6% YoY in Q2), as output from the transport engineering cluster increased.

In quarterly terms, Singapore’s GDP grew 1.4% in the third quarter, while accelerating from a 0.1% increase in Q2.

Singapore’s Dollar was 0.17% weaker against its US counterpart on Wednesday, with the USD/SGD pair last trading at 1.3405. The exotic Forex pair has rebounded from Tuesday’s 16-week low of 1.3348.