Singapore upgrades 2024 economic growth forecast to around 3.5%

SINGAPORE: Singapore on Friday (Nov 22) upgraded its economic growth forecast for 2024 to around 3.5 per cent, above the range of its previous prediction.
In August, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) narrowed the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 2 per cent to 3 per cent.
MTI upgraded the forecast after taking into account the “better-than-expected performance” of the Singapore economy in the first three quarters of the year, as well as the latest global and domestic situations. 
For the first three quarters of the year, GDP growth averaged 3.8 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.
Next year, the ministry is expecting Singapore’s GDP growth to come in between 1 per cent and 3 per cent.
MTI also revised the third-quarter GDP figures to 5.4 per cent, up from the advanced estimates of 4.1 per cent.
This is also higher than the 3 per cent growth recorded in the second quarter, which was also revised upward from 2.9 per cent.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s economy grew by 3.2 per cent, accelerating from the 0.5 per cent expansion in the previous quarter.
On balance, Singapore’s overall external demand outlook is expected to remain resilient for the rest of 2024, said the ministry.
Coupled with the ongoing recovery in global electronics demand, these should support growth in Singapore’s manufacturing sector as well as outward-oriented services sectors such as the wholesale trade sector, added MTI.
On the other hand, the outlook for tourism-related and consumer-facing sectors such as the accommodation, retail trade and food & beverage services sectors has weakened given the slower-than-expected recovery in international visitor arrivals and sluggish tourist spending.
Manufacturing, wholesale trade and finance and insurance boosted GDP growth in the third quarter, MTI said. These sectors were bolstered in part by the upturn in the global electronics sector.
In particular, the manufacturing sector expanded by 11 per cent compared with the third quarter of last year. It contracted 1.1 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
All clusters in the sector grew, but the electronics sector reported robust growth, supported by demand for smartphone and PC semiconductor chips.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the sector grew 13.5 per cent, a reversal from the 1.1 per cent contraction in the second quarter.