Singapore raises 2025 GDP growth forecast amid better-than-expected H1 performance

SINGAPORE, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry on Tuesday raised its forecast for the city-state's 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) growth to between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent, up from a previous range of 0.0 percent to 2.0 percent, citing a stronger-than-expected economic performance in the first half of the year.

Singapore's economy expanded 4.3 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2025, the ministry said in a statement, while cautioning that risks remain tilted to the downside amid global uncertainties.

Significant uncertainties remain in the global economy, partly due to the ongoing unpredictability of U.S. trade policies, including the timing and scope of sectoral tariffs on pharmaceutical products and semiconductors, the ministry noted.

In the second quarter, Singapore's economy grew 4.4 percent year-on-year, slightly up from 4.1 percent in the first quarter. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy expanded 1.4 percent, rebounding from a 0.5 percent contraction in the prior quarter.

The growth was driven primarily by wholesale trade, manufacturing, finance and insurance, as well as transportation and storage sectors. The wholesale trade and transportation and storage segments were supported by front-loading activities ahead of U.S. tariff measures in the region.

However, the food and beverage services sector contracted, attributed in part to a sustained rise in outbound travel by locals.■