Singapore's GDP grew 2.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, marginally higher than the 2.1 percent growth in the first quarter of 2016.
A Ministry of Trade and Industry report showed that on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the republic's economy expanded at a faster pace compared with the previous quarter, as both goods and services producing industries grew.
The manufacturing industry expanded by 0.8 percent in Q2, compared with the 0.5 percent decline in the first quarter. An increase in the output of the biomedical manufacturing and electronics clusters boosted the growth.
If calculated on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the manufacturing sector output grew 0.3 percent following the 18.4 percent growth in the first quarter.
The services sector has not shown any change in its growth estimation. It expanded 1.7 percent in the second quarter, which is similar to that of the previous quarter. The growth was driven mainly by the wholesale and retail trade and transportation and storage sectors. The increase in the sales of motor vehicles has a huge impact on growth in this sector.
The services producing industries grew by 0.5 percent, reversing the 4.8 percent contraction in the first quarter.
However, the ministry said growth in the construction sector eased from 4.5 percent in the first quarter to 2.7 percent in the second quarter, due to a slowdown in private sector construction activities. Quarter-on quarter, this sector expanded at an annualised rate of 0.6 percent, which is lower than the 3.5 percent expansion in the preceding quarter.
