The Singapore economy grew 15.5 percent on-year during the first quarter, driven by a massive growth in the manufacturing sector.
According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) jumped 38.6 percent in Q1 on a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis.
The figures released by the government in April showed that the Singapore economy expanded 32.1 percent quarter-on-quarter and 13.1 percent on a year-on-year basis.
The MTI said that the strong economic results in the first quarter was mainly attributed to the 32.9-percent on-year increase in the manufacturing sector through strong global demand for electronic products, particularly the semiconductor chips.
"The strong momentum seen in the first quarter was broad-based, led by the manufacturing sector. The electronics cluster enjoyed the strongest growth, underpinned by strong global demand for semiconductor chips," the MTI said.
It added that other major industries also announced stronger results for the quarter, including a 13.7-percent on-year increase in the construction sector, 17.7 percent in wholesale and retail trade and 18.1 percent in financial services.
The MTI is maintaining a seven-percent to nine-percent growth forecast for this year, a dramatic turnaround from 2009, when GDP declined 1.3 percent.
However, the MTI expressed that despite a strong economic recovery, the debt crisis in Europe and the worries of excessive asset price hikes in Asia were some of the risk factors that could affect the global economy.