Singapore's gross domestic product contracted a seasonally adjusted 5.9 percent in the third quarter of 2012 compared to the previous three months, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in Friday's final revision.
That was significantly worse than the 1.5 percent decline on quarter reported in September's preliminary reading, and it follows the 0.5 percent increase in Q2.
On a yearly basis, GDP was up 0.3 percent - also down from the preliminary reading of 1.3 percent following the 2.5 percent yearly gain in the second quarter.
"The pullback in quarter-on-quarter growth momentum was largely due to the decline in externally-oriented sectors such as manufacturing and wholesale trade," the MTI said in a release accompanying the data.
The manufacturing sector fell 9.6 percent on quarter, following flat growth in the preceding quarter. This was largely due to contraction in the electronics manufacturing cluster, the MTI said. On a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing sector declined 0.8 percent, compared to the 4.6 percent expansion in the previous quarter.
The construction sector climbed 7.7 percent on year, slowing from 12.3 percent in the preceding quarter. On a quarterly basis, the sector contracted by an annualized rate of 17.2 percent, due to a decline in private sector building activities.
The wholesale and retail trade sector dipped 0.3 percent on year, following the 0.4 percent decline in Q2. On a quarterly basis, the annualized decline of the sector accelerated to 7.8 percent from 0.4 percent in the preceding quarter, mainly due to the decline in the wholesale trade segment. Although the transportation and storage sector grew 1.4 percent on year, it shed 1.3 percent on a quarter-on-quarter annualized basis.
The finance and insurance sector fell 2.7 percent on year, compared to a 0.3 percent increase in the previous three months. On a quarterly basis, the sector declined at an annualized rate of 4.6 percent, reflecting sluggish activity in the forex trading and insurance segments. Growth in the business services sector moderated to 3.8 percent on year, from 4.3 percent in Q2. Weighed down by the decline in business and management consultancy activities, growth in the sector was flat on quarter, the MTI said.
The yearly growth of the accommodation and food services sector moderated to 2.0 percent, from 2.9 percent in the preceding quarter. The "other services" industries (which include arts, entertainment and recreation activities) contracted 0.5 percent on year, following the 0.3 percent decline in Q2. On quarter, the sectors declined by 1.8 and 1.6 percent, respectively.
Upon the release of the data, the MTI said it expects the Singapore economy to grow 1.5 percent in 2012 and 1.0 to 3.0 percent in 2013.
"Singapore's economic growth is expected to remain subdued for the rest of 2012," the MTI said. "The electronics manufacturing cluster would continue to be weighed down by tepid external demand. On the other hand, expansion in the construction sector could provide modest growth support to the overall economy. Growth may be slightly lower than forecast, if the weakness in the externally-oriented sectors persists into the final quarter of 2012."
The global economy is expected to remain sluggish in 2013, the MTI said. In the advanced economies, growth is likely to be restrained by continued household deleveraging and fiscal consolidation.
"In Asia, while domestic demand is expected to remain resilient, overall growth is likely to be moderate given the weak external demand," the MTI said. "In view of the external conditions, the growth outlook for the Singapore economy remains cautiously positive. Growth in externally-oriented clusters such as electronics manufacturing and wholesale trade could remain subdued. Nevertheless, backed by a healthy pipeline of projects, growth in specific clusters, such as transport engineering, as well as the construction sector, could provide support to the economy in 2013."
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