Singapore's GDP increases 1.8% in Q4, 2015 growth at 2%

Singapore's economic growth is out of prediction. In the Q4, Singapore's GDP grew 1.8%, bringing a full-year 2015 growth of 2%.

Singapore's GDP grew slower than expected before. As reported by Business Times, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Singapore said the country's economy grew slightly slower than expected in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Meanwhile, according to RTT News, Singapore's GDP annualized to 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, as announced by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Singapore on Wednesday, February 24.

Previously, a 2% growth was estimated in the fourth quarter of 2015 because of the faster pace of expansion in the services and manufacture sectors. The said services, however, expanded at a slower pace than initially predicted. It was reported that year 2015 has the slowest GDP growth since the global economy crisis in 2009.

Most of Singapore's GDP growth was supported by the wholesale and retail trade, as well as the finance and insurance sectors. But as states, those sectors grew slightly slower.

Based on the information from The Channel News Asia , the slow growth is caused by the decrease of export demand. The Minister of Trade and Industry Permanent Secretary, Ow Foong Pheng, said "Even though global growth is expected to improve, the continued slowdown in China, the services-driven nature of growth in the US, as well as the trends of in-sourcing in China and the US, may mean that external demand for our exporters may not see a significant boost this year."

Apart from the aforementioned factor, the sluggish demand in the marine and offshore segment has also contributed to the slowdown. Ow Foong Pheng added that lower oil prices have weakened the revenue from these sectors.

Nevertheless, the 2015 GDP growth is still supported by the previous year's growth. The Ministry of Trade and Industry stated "Growth for the year is expected to be supported by strengthening growth in the advanced economies, even as conditions in the emerging markets remain challenging".

Although the GDP growth is out of prediction, it reflects that Singapore has still survived the economic ressesion that some nations have been experiencing.