The Department of Statistics Singapore has recently released Business Expectations Services Sector for the period January to June 2024.  The study was conducted on over 1,500 Singapore businesses enterprises in wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation & storage, accommodation, food & beverage services, information & communications, finance & insurance, real estate, professional and administrative & support services, and recreation, community & personal services.

The outlook for Singapore businesses in the services sector has become more balanced, with a majority of firms maintaining a positive outlook for the period from January to June 2024. Around 19% of firms are optimistic about business conditions, while 14% anticipate a decline, resulting in a net weighted balance of 5% of firms expecting a more favourable business outlook.

Service Sector Outlook

The majority of industries within the services sector are expressing positive sentiments about their business conditions. Particularly, the Accommodation, Retail Trade, and Finance & Insurance industries are reporting the most positive outlooks.

The accommodation sector is expecting a higher number of travelers in Singapore for both leisure and business purposes. 

Retail trade is expecting a higher level of shopping activities during the Chinese New Year.

However, the Transportation & Storage, and Food & Beverage sectors are less optimistic and expect challenging conditions over the next 6 months.

The survey result on the Singapore businesses indicates that the projections for operating revenue and employment align with the overall business sentiments. The Accommodation sector, anticipating an increase in revenue and hiring, attributes this growth to a rise in tourist numbers. Similarly, firms in the recreation, community, and personal services industry, buoyed by their positive revenue outlook, anticipate a growth in employment levels.

Note: Net Weighted Balance 

A “net weighted balance” is used to indicate the likely overall direction of change of a particular activity or industry. Net weighted balance is calculated by taking the difference between the weighted percentages of “ups” and “downs”. A plus sign in the net weighted balance indicates a net upward trend and a minus sign denotes a net downward trend