Singapore's economy grows 5.4% in Q3, down from 6.2% in previous quarter: Advance estimates

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s economy grew 5.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, slightly slower than the 6.2 per cent reported in the second quarter of the year, according to advance estimates from the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry (METI) on Wednesday (Oct 14).

The manufacturing sector grew 7.5 per cent, slowing down from a 12.9 per cent expansion in Q2.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s economy grew 1.1 per cent, compared to the 1.5 per cent growth in Q2.

Advance estimates are largely computed from data in the first two months of the quarter, July and August in this case. They are intended as an early indicator and may be revised later when more data is available. 

Growth in the manufacturing sector was driven by output expansions in the electronics, precision engineering, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters, said METI in a media release on Wednesday. 

This outweighed declines in output in the chemicals and biomedical manufacturing clusters, it added. 

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the manufacturing sector contracted 0.9 per cent, compared with the 6.3 per cent growth in Q2.

The construction sector grew 8.8 per cent in the third quarter, faster than the 6.1 per cent growth reported in Q2, as both public and private sector construction output increased, figures from METI showed. 

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the sector grew 3.4 per cent, turning around from the 2.7 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.