Q4 turnover for services sector comes in flat

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S services sector posted flat turnover growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, registering a measly 0.2 per cent increase in business receipts year on year.

Against the previous quarter, however, business receipts rose 3.2 per cent - with all segments except education recording higher turnover.

The result was mixed in year-on-year terms, though. Segments that enjoyed turnover growth were health & social services (6.6 per cent), financial & insurance (3.5 per cent), information & communications (2.5 per cent), and education (1.5 per cent).

The remaining three segments posted a decline in business receipts. Recreation & personal services suffered the most with a 7 per cent drop, while business services and transport & storage showed declines of 2.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

The data released on Friday by the Department of Statistics (DOS) excludes wholesale & retail trade, and accommodation & food services.

DOS primarily sources data on business receipts - which is all income earned from business operations - via its quarterly survey of services and its survey of quarterly national income estimates. In quarter-on-quarter non-seasonally adjusted terms, the information & communications services industry reported the highest growth of 7.3 per cent. Other segments posted more modest increases, ranging from 0.4 per cent for recreation & personal services to financial & insurance's 3.9 per cent.

The education segment, however, experienced a 5.4 per cent drop in business receipts.