SINGAPORE: Singapore’s economy shrank 5.8 per cent in a pandemic-hit 2020, even as most industries saw some improvement in the fourth quarter of the year, advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed on Monday (Jan 4).
The Singapore economy contracted by 3.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the last quarter of the year, an improvement from the 5.6 per cent contraction recorded in the third quarter. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a decline of 4.5 per cent.
AdvertisementAdvertisementOn a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s GDP grew by 2.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2020, following the 9.5 per cent expansion between July and September.
Singapore has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with construction, aviation and tourism among the most affected.
It entered a "circuit breaker" period in April to stem the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, shutting down non-essential businesses.
It exited the circuit breaker period in June, gradually reopening the economy.
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