2020.07.1400:45:00UTC+00Singapore Q2 GDP Tumbles 41.2% On Quarter

Singapore's gross domestic product plummeted a seasonally adjusted annualized 41.2 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2020, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in Tuesday's advance estimate - with the fall owing largely to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That missed forecasts for a drop of 37.4 percent following the upwardly revised 3.3 percent contraction in the previous three months (originally -4.7 percent).

On a yearly basis, Singapore's GDP sank 12.6 percent - again shy of expectations for 10.5 percent following the upwardly revised 0.3 percent fall in the three months prior (originally -0.7 percent).

The manufacturing sector grew 2.5 percent on year in the second quarter, slower than the 8.2 percent growth in the previous quarter - primarily due to a surge in output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster. On the other hand, weak external demand and workplace disruptions weighed on output in the chemicals, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters. On quarter, the manufacturing sector shrank by 23.1 percent, a sharp reversal from the 45.5 percent expansion in the preceding quarter.

The construction sector contracted 54.7 percent on year, down sharply from the 1.1 percent fall in the previous quarter. Construction output weakened, which led to a stoppage of most construction activities during the period, as well as manpower disruptions arising from additional measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including movement restrictions at foreign worker dormitories. On quarter, the construction sector shrank by 95.6 percent, far worse than the 12.2 percent contraction in the preceding quarter.

The services producing industries shed 13.6 percent on year, steeper than the 2.4 percent decline in the previous quarter. Within services, tourism-related sectors like accommodation and the air transport sector were severely affected by global and domestic travel restrictions, which brought visitor arrivals and air travel to a standstill. Other outward-oriented services sectors such as wholesale trade and water transport were adversely affected by a fall in external demand as many countries around the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. On quarter, the services producing industries shrank 37.7 percent, extending the 13.4 percent decline in Q1.