Singapore narrows 2024 growth forecast to 2-3%

Economy expands 2.9% in Q2; expected to remain resilient for rest of the year

- Sue-Ann Tan

Singapore's economy is expected to stay resilient for the rest of the year, with growth now expected to come in at the upper end of the official forecast, although risks such as geopolitical conflicts remain.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Aug 13 narrowed its 2024 growth forecast to 2 per cent to 3 per cent, from its range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

This was after taking into account the performance of the Singapore economy in the first half of 2024, as well as the latest global and domestic economic situations, MTI said.

For the first half of 2024, Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 3 percent year on year.

MTI chief economist Yong Yik Wei told the media that barring downside risks globally, growth is expected to stay at this trend rate of around 2 per cent to 3 per cent over the medium term, till around 2033 or thereabouts.

This is in line with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's remark in February's Budget, when he said Singapore is aiming for annual growth of 2 per cent to 3 per cent on average over the next decade.

For the second quarter, the economy grew 2.9 per cent, unchanged from MTI's advance estimate released a month ago. It follows firstquarter growth of 3 per cent - the fastest pace since the 4.2 per cent expansion in the third quarter of 2022.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis and seasonally adjusted, the economy expanded 0.4 per cent, matching the advance estimate and unchanged from growth in the first quarter.

Second-quarter growth was driven mainly by the wholesale trade, finance and insurance, and information and communications sectors, MTI said.

However, the manufacturing sector shrank, largely due to a contraction in biomedical manufacturing as pharmaceuticals output fell sharply.