Singapore's gross domestic product contracted a seasonally adjusted annualized 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in Friday's advance estimate.
That's down sharply from the 3.3 percent increase in the fourth quarter.
On a yearly basis, GDP was down 0.6 percent after rising 1.5 percent in the three months prior.
The manufacturing sector dropped 6.5 percent on year in the first quarter, following the 1.1 percent decline in the previous quarter.
On quarter, the sector declined by an annualized rate of 11.3 percent, compared to the increase of 3.1 percent in the preceding quarter. The sequential decline largely reflected a contraction in the output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster, the ministry said.
The construction sector jumped 7.0 percent on year, compared to 5.8 percent in the preceding quarter.
On quarter, the sector expanded by an annualized rate of 15.1 percent, an improvement from the contraction of 3.9 percent in Q4. The rebound was mainly due to a recovery in private sector building activities, the ministry noted
The services producing industries added 1.2 percent on year, following the 1.7 percent growth in the previous quarter.
On quarter, the services producing industries grew by an annualized rate of 1.8 percent, compared to 2.5 percent in Q4. Growth was primarily supported by expansions in the finance and insurance sector, business services sector and other services industries, the ministry said. That more than offset the decline in the wholesale and retail trade sector.
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