Within the goods producing industries, manufacturing output increased by 10.2 percent in the second quarter, higher than the preliminary figure of a 8.6 percent rise and following a 10.8 percent gain in the first quarter. Growth was mainly supported by increases in electronics, biomedical manufacturing and transport engineering clusters. Meanwhile, construction output contracted 4.6 percent, compared to the initial estimates of a 4.4 percent decline and a 5.2 percent fall in the previous three months. The decline was mainly driven by falls in public sector construction works.
The services producing industries increased by 2.8 percent, less than the preliminary data of a 3.4 percent rise and after a 4 percent growth in the March quarter. Within the sector, wholesale & retail trade rose at a softer 1.5 percent (from 2.5 percent in Q1), supported by rises in both the wholesale trade and retail trade segments. Transportation & storage went up 1.3 percent, slower than a 2.7 percent rise in Q1, largely driven by the air transport segment, which expanded on the back of an increase in air passengers handled at Changi Airport. Information & communications expanded 5.2 percent (from 5.4 percent), primarily driven by the IT & information services segment. Finance & insurance grew by 6.7 percent (from 9.2 percent), supported by expansions across all segments. Business services rose 2.1 percent (from 2.6 percent) supported by the professional services and others segments. Other services industries expanded 0.7 percet (from 2.3 percent), supported by the education, health & social services segment. Meantime, accommodation & food industries grew at a faster 4 percent (from 2 percent), mainly boosted by an increase in the accommodation segment.
For 2018, the Ministry of Trade and Industry maintained the GDP growth forecast between 2.5 to 3.5 percent but it highlighted weaker-than expected expansion in some major economies such as the EU and Japan as well as the potential risk from intensifying global trade tensions.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualized basis, the GDP expanded by 0.6 percent in the second quarter, lower than the preliminary figure of a 1 percent growth and missing expectations of a 1.3 percent increase. It followed an upwardly revised quarterly figure of 2.2 percent expansion in the March quarter and marked the weakest pace of expansion since a contraction in the first quarter 2017.