Singapore

THE stunning 39.8 per cent surge in manufacturing growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 is in sharp contrast to the 5 per cent decline in the third quarter, helped largely by a recovery in demand for semiconductor worldwide, even as business costs dropped.

Year-on-year, the sector grew 11.5 per cent in Q4 2016, outpacing 1.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter, also helped by a robust biomedical manufacturing cluster. Overall, the sector - which contributes 19.6 per cent to the nation's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) - expanded 3.6 per cent in 2016, a reversal from the 5.1 per cent contraction in 2015, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry.