Singapore exits recession; GDP expands 0.8% in Q3

Climbing out of recession, Singapore's economy expanded 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2009, indicating that the worst of the down-slide is over for the region.

The country's economy has been primarily bolstered by good performance in biomedical and electronics manufacturing, among others, in the September quarter.

The economy has expanded for the first time since the third quarter of 2008.

According to Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT), the national economy grew 0.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter.

In the three months ended June, the economy had contracted 3.2 per cent.

"Growth was driven by the continued expansion of biomedical and electronics manufacturing output, and improvements in the trade-related and tourism sectors of the economy on the back of a gradual stabilisation in global economic conditions," MIT said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, Singapore's third-quarter GDP rose by 14.9 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter annualised basis, after a 22 per cent expansion in the second quarter of 2009.

With the latest upswing in figures, Singapore has joined Japan and European majors Germany and France, in coming out of the recession.