Singapore manufacturing sector grows 11.5% in Q4

THE manufacturing sector in Singapore grew by 11.5 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2016, driven by robust growth in the electronics and biomedial manufacturing clusters.

The latest figure by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Friday showed that the sector accelerated from the 1.8 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

A recovery in the global semiconductors demand supported growth in the electronics manufacturing cluster while output growth in both the pharmaceuticals and medical technology segments boosted the biomedical manufacturing cluster.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the manufacturing sector rebounded strongly from the 5 per cent decline in the third quarter to post growth of 39.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Most other sectors also grew between 0.4 per cent and 5.4 per cent year on year, except for the construction sector which shrank 2.8 per cent year on year, business services sector (-1.9 per cent) and accommodation & food services sector (-0.2 per cent).

Overall in 2016, the manufacturing sector grew by 3.6 per cent, a reversal from the 5.1 per cent decline in 2015, driven largely by the electronics and biomedical manufacturing clusters, even while the transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters continued to contract.

Looking forward, externally oriented sectors such as the manufacturing and transportation & storage sectors are likely to provide support to growth in the Singapore economy in 2017 against the global backdrop.

Improved momentum seen in the manufacturing sector towards the end of 2016 is expected to be sustained into 2017, supported by a continued recovery in the global demand for semiconductors and semiconductor equipment.