Business receipts of Singapore's services sector up 3.3% in Q1

Singapore

BUSINESS receipts for Singapore's services industry rose 3.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2015, with all but the recreation & personal services segment experiencing turnover growth.

But the pace of growth has slowed from the 5.7 per cent seen in Q4 2014, said the Department of Statistics (DOS) on Wednesday.

Q1's higher turnover growth was led by the key financial & insurance segment, which carries the biggest weight on the index of almost 25 per cent. It enjoyed the highest rise of 9.4 per cent, followed by the health & social services segment at 5.9 per cent growth.

Higher business receipts were also registered by the information & communications and transport & storage services segments, at 4.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.

Business services and education services saw more flat growth rates; the former recorded an increase of just 0.4 per cent, and the latter, 0.3 per cent.

Recreation & personal services, however, saw a 9.9 per cent drop in turnover.

Monday's data excludes wholesale & retail trade, and accommodation & food services. DOS primarily sources data on business receipts - all income earned from business operations - via its quarterly survey of services and its survey of quarterly national income estimates.

While growth was seen in year-on-year terms, business receipts declined 3.4 per cent in Q1 against the previous quarter.

Performance was also mixed - four out of the seven services segments saw declines in turnover, with the remaining three posting single-digit increases.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis (without seasonal adjustments), business services receipts fell 8.6 per cent - the largest drop of the lot. Declines were also seen in transport & storage (-4.8 per cent), recreation & personal services (-4 per cent), and information & communications (-3.3 per cent).

The education, health & social services, and financial & insurance segments, however, saw increases of 5.8 per cent, 2.3 per cent, and 1.6 per cent respectively.