Singapore’s economic growth expected to hit 7% this year, slow to below 5% next year

【 2021-11-24 Source: Economic Daily 】

  • Singapore’s economy is expected to grow by 7% this year, but will slow to below 5% next year, reflecting the uneven pace of recovery across industries.
  • Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.1% in the third quarter from a year earlier, higher than the government’s initial estimate of 6.5%. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected growth of 6.5 percent.
  • The Ministry of Trade and Industry said that GDP growth this year is about 7%, compared with the original forecast of between 6% and 7%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry also forecast for the first time economic growth of 3% to 5% next year.
  • “The recovery in various sectors of the economy in 2022 is still inconsistent,” said Gabriel Lim, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He expects export industries such as manufacturing and wholesale trade to remain strong, while the prosperity of aviation and tourism-related industries will remain weak throughout 2022 at pre-pandemic levels.
  • About 85% of Singapore’s 5.45 million population has been fully vaccinated, and this week it eased some epidemic control measures and opened quarantine-free travel channels with several countries.
  • The Department of Trade and Industry said continued supply disruptions, a strong recovery in demand and higher prices for energy commodities could lead to more persistent inflation. Data this week showed Singapore’s key price gauge rose by the most in nearly three years in October, driven largely by gains in services and food.
  • Alvin Tan, head of capital markets strategy at RBC, said: “I expect growth momentum to pick up from this, while the recovery in Southeast Asia continues into early next year. Singapore will benefit from this, in addition to its own domestic growth factors.”