24.2% factory output jump in Sept raises Singapore GDP hopes

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S factory output soared 24.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September, giving a surprise boost to third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth and raising hopes for full-year performance, with some economists revising their estimates.

Driven by a near-doubling in output from the volatile biomedical cluster, September's industrial production growth was the highest since December 2011 - far exceeding economists' expectations of 2.5 per cent, and up from 15.4 per cent in August.

With September's figure, industrial production rose 10 per cent year on year in Q3, recovering from Q2's 0.8 per cent decline and beating the advance estimate of 2 per cent.

In line with this, economists now expect final Q3 GDP growth to come in at between -5.6 and -5.4 per cent, up from the official advance es…

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Friday, 8.30 am

SGSME

Get updates on Singapore's SME community, along with profiles, news and tips.

Sign Up