Singapore logs worst full-year GDP contraction in 2020

The Singaporean economy logged its worst contraction in more than five decades last year as the COVID-19 outbreak pushed the city-state into recession.

GDP contracted 5.8% year over year in 2020, slightly better than the government's projection of a 6.0% to 6.5% full-year decline, advanced estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed.

This was Singapore's worst full-year GDP reading since independence in 1965, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

Manufacturing grew 7.1%, while construction tumbled 33.7%. The services-producing industries contracted 7.8%.

In the fourth quarter, Singapore's GDP shrank 3.8% year over year, compared with a 5.6% decline in the prior three-month period. Manufacturing expanded 9.5% in the December 2020 quarter, while construction declined 28.5%.

Singapore registered a decline in each of the four quarters of 2020 as the pandemic and the ensuing movement restrictions forced many businesses to halt operations.

For 2021, Singapore's GDP is forecast to expand 4.0% to 6.0%.