Spurred by strong manufacturing activities, Singapore's economy expanded at a record pace of 14.7 per cent in 2010 after witnessing contraction in the previous year.
In yet another sign of improving growth prospects, the economy rose 6.9 per cent in the 2010 fourth quarter, according to official data released today.
"For the whole of 2010, the economy is estimated to have expanded by 14.7 per cent," Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said.
Earlier, Singapore registered a record growth of 13.8 per cent in 1970.
The latest MTI figures are based on advanced estimates. The strong annualised expansion came on the back of robust manufacturing sector, which grew 30.4 per cent during the same period.
Squeezed by the global financial meltdown and sluggish demand from advanced nations, the island nation's economy had contracted 1.3 per cent in 2009.
In the fourth quarter, GDP shot up 6.9 per cent whereas it had slumped 18.9 per cent in three months ended September.
"On a sequential basis, the (manufacturing) sector returned to positive growth, expanding by an annualised rate of 20 per cent after posting a sharp contraction of 53.4 per cent in the preceding quarter.
"This strong growth was led by biomedical manufacturing cluster, which saw a strong rebound in pharmaceutical output," MIT said.
Services sector, which accounts for over 60 per cent of the national GDP, grew 8.8 per cent in the 2010 December quarter.
