Prime Highlights
- Singapore’s economy expanded 5.7% year on year in Q4 2025, marking its strongest quarterly growth since 2021, driven mainly by a sharp rebound in manufacturing.
- Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the 4.8% full-year growth in 2025 exceeded expectations but warned that sustaining this pace would be challenging in 2026.
Key Facts
- The manufacturing sector grew 15% in Q4, led by biomedical manufacturing and electronics, and accounts for about 20% of Singapore’s total economic output.
- MTI projects GDP growth of 1%–3% for 2026, while Singapore’s trade-to-GDP ratio exceeded 320% in 2024, highlighting its exposure to global trade risks.
Background
Singapore recorded its fastest economic growth in three years in the fourth quarter of 2025, driven by a sharp rise in manufacturing activity, official data showed.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the economy grew 5.7% year on year in the October–December period. This marked the strongest quarterly expansion since 2021 and was a big jump from the revised 4.3% growth seen in the third quarter.
The manufacturing sector led the recovery, posting a strong 15% expansion. MTI said biomedical manufacturing and electronics were the key drivers behind the surge. Manufacturing accounts for about one-fifth of Singapore’s total economic output.
Some sectors, like construction and services, shrank during the same time, showing that the recovery wasn’t widespread.
The strong final quarter lifted Singapore’s full-year growth for 2025 to 4.8%. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced the figure in his New Year message, noting that it exceeded the government’s earlier upgraded forecast of around 4%.
“This is a better outcome than we expected, given the circumstances,” Wong said, while cautioning that it would be hard to maintain the same pace in the coming year.
MTI has projected GDP growth of between 1% and 3% for 2026. OCBC’s Chief Economist Selena Ling said the latest numbers showed Singapore’s economic resilience, supported by strengths across manufacturing, services, and construction. However, she expects growth to slow to around 2% next year as manufacturing eases from a high base.
Singapore remains exposed to global trade risks. The country relies heavily on trade, with its trade-to-GDP ratio crossing 320% in 2024. The government earlier warned that the economy could even face zero growth and had already eased monetary policy twice in 2025 to prepare for a possible slowdown.
