SINGAPORE: According to preliminary estimates provided by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Thursday (Jan 2), Singapore’s economy increased 4.3% in the last quarter of 2024, slower than last year.
In his New Year’s greeting, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong stated that economic growth in 2024 exceeded forecasts and that most of Singapore’s workers had wage rises that exceeded inflation. Singapore raised its forecast for economic growth in November to approximately 3.5%, which was higher than the range of its earlier estimate.
Although Singapore is entering 2025 “on track,” Barclays economist Brian Tan stated that the extremely impressive third quarter did not appear to be sustained and that there are indications that the economy is peaking.
The future is still uncertain, though, and based on what we know about the next US administration and their plans to impose tariffs on their trading partners, I believe 2025 will be more difficult than 2024,” he told CNA’s Asia First. He said that Singapore is an “ultra-open economy” and that trade disputes or tariffs will hinder the nation’s prosperity.
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