Singapore’s economy shrank 6.8 per cent in the fourth quarter from September to December period, trade ministry revealed on Monday.

However, it also added that the shrinkage was less than the expected value for the entire year.

The decline in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was reportedly due to the weakness in the manufacturing, which reported a decline of 38.4 per cent this quarter. This decline in the manufacturing is indeed a dramatic reverse from the 29.6 per cent growth of the third quarter.

According to the ministry, this shrinkage has been attributed chiefly to a sharp fall in the output from pharmaceuticals and transport engineering.

On the other hand, the ministry has reported a positive growth in other manufacturing segments such as electronics, chemicals and precision engineering.

The services sector reported a 7.2 per cent quarterly growth and the construction climbed 4.3 per cent.