SINGAPORE: Singapore’s trade-dependent economy grew by an estimated 2.1 percent in 2015, its worst performance since the 2009 recession, as global demand for Asian exports slumped, official data showed Monday.
The gross domestic product expansion figure, down from 2.9 percent in 2014, was based on advance estimates that GDP in the fourth quarter of last year rose 2.0 percent year-on-year. The 2015 growth estimate was in line with the government’s latest revised forecast for GDP to expand “close to 2.0 percent”.
Singapore’s GDP contracted by 0.6 percent in 2009 during the global financial crisis, but rebounded the following year with exceptional growth of 15.2 percent. The trade ministry has projected GDP growth of between 1.0 and 3.0 percent in 2016.
Singapore’s manufacturing sector, which makes up about a fifth of the economy, contracted 6.0 percent in the December 2015 quarter, marking its fourth consecutive quarterly decline.
In 2015, manufacturing sank 4.8 percent, the ministry said, due to weak demand for key exports like semiconductors and precision engineering products. Demand for oil drilling rigs has also been dented as exploration activities dwindled due to the prolonged slump in crude prices. Singapore is the largest manufacturer of jack-up rigs, accounting for 70 percent of the world market.
