Thailand
Singapore’s services industries’ takings up 16.6% in Q2 to pre-pandemic levels
SINGAPORE’S services industries saw business receipts grow 16.6 per cent year on year in the second quarter, with the index recovering to pre-pandemic levels, according to Department of Statistics (Singstat) figures on Friday.
On a quarter-to-quarter non-seasonally adjusted basis, business receipts were up 1.9 per cent.
Singstat noted that the double-digit year-on-year growth was partly due to the “circuit breaker” in 2020, which disrupted activities in industries such as recreation and personal services, as well as health and social services.
The business receipts index was 119.4 for the quarter, slightly higher than the 119.1 reading for Q2 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The index excludes wholesale trade, retail trade, and accommodation and food services. There are separate indices for retail sales and food and beverage services.
All industries saw year-on-year gains in Q2. Seeing the biggest increases were recreation and personal services (+135 per cent), information and communications (+38.2 per cent), health and social services (+24.6 per cent), and real estate (+24.4 per cent).
Singstat attributed the increase for recreation and personal services to the low base a year ago, when non-essential services such as attractions and sports facilities were closed during the “circuit breaker”. Similarly, the rise in health and social services takings was related to the postponement of non-urgent elective surgeries during the “circuit breaker”. For information and communications, the increased turnover was attributed mainly to software publishers, including game publishers.
On a quarterly basis, however, declines were seen for recreation and personal services (-8.7 per cent), education (-7 per cent), health and social services (-3.3 per cent), financial and insurance (-1.9 per cent), and real estate (-0.5 per cent).
The quarterly decrease for recreation and personal services was attributed mainly to firms in the gaming and attractions segment reducing visitor capacity, when Covid-19 measures were tightened during Phase 2 (Heightened Alert).
The strongest quarterly growth was for information and communications, up 10.5 per cent, and transportation and storage, up 10 per cent.
In information and communications, higher revenue was reported by firms engaged in information service activities including web hosting and web portal
services – for instance, online marketplaces and search engines. The rise for transportation and storage was due mainly to shipping lines, which saw an increase in freight rates and volume.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-services-industries-takings-up-166-in-q2-to-pre-pandemic-levels