SG Budget 2017: Economy grew 2% in 2016, within range

SINGAPORE achieved GDP growth of 2 per cent in 2016, which is slightly higher than the 1.9 per cent in the previous year.

At the start of his Budget speech on Monday, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat described the 2016 figure as within range, but at the lower end of the potential growth over the medium term.

He said that Singapore is undergoing a "key transition" as the economy matures. With falling birth rates and a rapidly ageing population, the labour force growth will eventually fall to zero.

"We can aim for quality growth of 2 to 3 per cent, if we press on in our drive for higher productivity and work hard to help everyone who wishes to work find a place in the labour force," he said.