It is a record high in comparison with the same period last year, when COVID-19 plunged the economy into its worst recession.

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Containers at Pasir Panjang port in Singapore

The strong growth was largely due to the low base in the second quarter of 2020 when GDP fell by 13.3 percent due to the circuit breaker measures implemented from April 7 to June 1 last year to contain the spread of the pandemic in the country.

The key manufacturing sector expanded by 18.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, extending the 11.3 percent growth in the previous three-month period.

Non-oil domestic exports rose 8.8 percent in May. For construction, the MTI data showed the sector expanded by 98.8 percent on a year-on-year basis, a turnaround from the 23.1 percent contraction in the first quarter.

The sharp upturn was due to low base effects as last year's circuit breaker measures had resulted in a stoppage of most construction activities in the second quarter of last year.

However, on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the Singapore economy contracted by 2 percent in the second quarter of this year, a reversal from the 3.1 percent growth in the preceding quarter.

In absolute terms, GDP in the second quarter remained 0.9 percent below its pre-pandemic level in the same period of 2019, the MTI said.

Source: VNA