Singapore Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Singapore, a highly developed and successful free market economy, enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the Big 4 West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing. It was hard hit in 2001-03 by the global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, which curbed tourism and consumer spending. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle and will continue efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous growth in 2004, with real GDP rising by 8 percent, by far the economy's best performance since 2000.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $120.9 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
8.1% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $27,800 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 0% negligible
industry: 32.6%
services: 67.4% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
2.18 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
manufacturing 18%, construction 6%, transportation and communication 11%, financial, business, and other services 49%, other 16% (2003)

Unemployment rate:
3.4% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.7% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
27.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $17.05 billion
expenditures: $18.45 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.8 billion (2004 est.)

Public debt:
102.5% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
rubber, copra, fruit, orchids, vegetables, poultry, eggs, fish, ornamental fish

Industries:
electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment, petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade

Industrial production growth rate:
11.1% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
35.33 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
32 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
700,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
2.5 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
2.5 billion cu m
note: from Indonesia and Malaysia (2001 est.)

Current account balance:
$8.8 billion (2004 est.)

Exports:
$174 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment (including electronics), consumer goods, chemicals, mineral fuels

Exports - partners:
Malaysia 15.2%, US 13%, Hong Kong 9.8%, China 8.6%, Japan 6.4%, Taiwan 4.6%, Thailand 4.3%, South Korea 4.1% (2004)

Imports:
$155.2 billion (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Malaysia 15.3%, US 12.7%, Japan 11.7%, China 9.9%, Taiwan 5.7%, South Korea 4.3%, Thailand 4.1% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$112.8 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$19.4 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
NA

Currency (code):
Singapore dollar (SGD)

Exchange rates:
Singapore dollars per US dollar - 1.6902 (2004), 1.7422 (2003), 1.7906 (2002), 1.7917 (2001), 1.724 (2000)