SINGAPORE’S economy is expected to grow about 7 percent in 2021, at the top of the official forecast range, and will expand at a slower pace next year as an uneven recovery continues across sectors, the government said yesterday.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) forecast the economy to grow 3 percent to 5 percent next year.

“The recovery of the various sectors of the economy is expected to remain uneven in 2022,” said Gabriel Lim, permanent secretary for trade and industry. He expects outward-oriented sectors such as manufacturing and wholesale trade to remain strong.

Activity in aviation-and tourism-related sectors would remain below pre-COVID levels throughout 2022.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, the MTI said, higher than the 6.5 percent expansion seen in the government’s advance estimate and analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy expanded 1.3 percent in the third quarter. (SD-Agencies)