Takings rise 16% year on year for Singapore's services industries in Q3

SINGAPORE'S services industries saw business receipts rise 16 per cent year on year for the third quarter, according to Department of Statistics (Singstat) figures on Friday (Nov 26). Business receipts were also up 4.8 per cent on a quarter-to-quarter non-seasonally adjusted basis.

However, Singstat's business receipts index excludes wholesale trade, retail trade, and accommodation and food services, which are tracked separately.

Economists expect that services business receipts will keep improving in the fourth quarter, with greater resumption of travel and easing of domestic curbs from late-November.

Maybank Kim Eng senior economist Chua Hak Bin said: "Sectors lagging behind should catch up in the fourth quarter with the reopening, including air transport, hospitality and recreation and personal services."

In-person activities should pick up with the relaxation of curbs, said CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun. Coupled with the news of a year-end bonus for civil servants, services business receipts should end the year on a more positive note, "perhaps enough to offset a poor October and November", he added.

Almost all services industries in the index saw year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter gains in Q3.

The lone exception was the recreation and personal services industry, which saw a year-on-year decline of 13.3 per cent and a quarter-on-quarter fall of 13.7 per cent. This was due to tightened Covid-19 curbs on group sizes, said Singstat.

On a year-on-year basis, information and communications services saw the largest rise in turnover, of 39.4 per cent, which Singstat attributed to higher revenue from firms engaged in software publishing - including games - and web portals, such as online marketplaces. But in the quarters ahead, Song expects that IT services will see "steadier" growth, rather than the explosive growth of the last 2 years.

Transportation and storage also saw high growth of 39.1 per cent, with a rise in air transport activities as global travel curbs eased.

Those 2 industries also saw the largest increases on a quarterly basis, of 13.9 per cent for transportation and storage - though this was due mainly to shipping lines seeing a rise in freight rates and volume - and 7 per cent for information and communications. On a year-to-year basis, double-digit growth was also seen for real estate, and finance and insurance.

Several industries saw similar rates of quarterly growth: finance and insurance, health and social services, real estate, and education. Quarterly growth was lower for administrative and support services and professional services.

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