Singapore

Singapore: outstanding performance.

Singapore’s economic performance has been outstanding, with the EPI score projected to be 101.2% in 2016.

Singapore has an extremely low unemployment rates of only about 2% and the city-state has been persistently running large government surpluses. Inflation is projected to be close to 2% in 2016, mainly reflecting lower oil prices. GDP growth is likely to be 2.9% in 2016, despite the fact that Singapore’s economy is heavily dependent on trade flows and weaker growth prospects in China, Singapore’s main trading partner, will have negative implications to trade. Still, economic growth is likely to be supported by government spending, which will remain strong, as the city-state continues to invest in its infrastructure.

Singapore has been running extremely large current account surpluses of about 25% of GDP, with projected exports of about $375bn and imports of $285bn in 2015. Lower global oil prices have acted as a double-edged sword in 2015, as Singapore’s energy imports fell dramatically but exports decreased as well, as the city-state is one of the world’s largest petroleum refining centers.

The 5-Minute Economist projects Singapore’s EPI score to remain at A+ level in the next few years.