Singapore upgrades 2025 GDP growth forecast to 1.5%-2.5%; economy grew 4.4% in Q2
On Tuesday (Aug 12), MTI announced the narrowed forecast and said it largely reflects the better-than-expected performance of the Singapore economy in the first half of 2025.
The ministry said the Singapore economy grew 4.4 per cent in the second quarter of the year, a slight upgrade from the advance estimate of 4.3 per cent. GDP growth for the first quarter was 4.1 per cent.
For the first half of the year, Singapore's GDP growth came in at 4.3 per cent when compared with the previous year.
This is the second time this year that the ministry is changing its growth forecast for 2025. The forecast was initially for growth of 1 per cent to 3 per cent, but was downgraded in April after US President Donald Trump announced a global baseline tariff of 10 per cent and reciprocal tariffs on many other economies.
But a 90-day pause in the reciprocal tariffs led to the performance of most advanced and regional economies to be "more resilient than expected", said MTI.
The potential negative economic impact was postponed, and frontloading provided a "temporary boost to production and exports".
The growth forecast takes into account the good performance of the first six months of the year as well as the projected softening of global and domestic economies in the second half of 2025, said MTI.
"Singapore's economic outlook for the rest of the year remains clouded by uncertainty, with the risks tilted to the downside," the ministry said.
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