Singapore’s economy grew by 4.1% year-on-year (YoY) in the third quarter of 2024, up from 2.9% in the previous quarter, according to advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) released on Monday (Oct 14). This marks the fastest GDP growth since the third quarter of 2022, when the economy expanded by 4.2%.
On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP increased by 2.1%, a significant improvement from the 0.4% growth seen in the previous quarter.
The manufacturing sector saw a robust recovery, growing 7.5% YoY in Q3, reversing from a 1.1% decline in the prior quarter. This growth was driven by expansions across all manufacturing clusters, except biomedical manufacturing, MTI reported.
Manufacturing surged 9.9% quarter-on-quarter, bouncing back from the 1.2% contraction in Q2.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s central bank kept its monetary policy unchanged as expected, despite the economic uptick in Q3. Analysts anticipate a potential easing of monetary policy early next year to mitigate external risks. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) maintained its current exchange rate policy, keeping the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar’s Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (S$NEER) unchanged.
