Republic of Singapore

A

Labor

In 2005 Singapore’s labor force consisted of 2.2 million people. Women make up 40 percent of all workers. Some 70 percent of the total labor force was employed in the service sector in industries such as banking, finance, retail, and tourism. Manufacturing and construction employed 30 percent of the labor force. Agriculture and fishing employed just 0.2 percent of Singapore’s working people.

B

Services

Services comprise 66 percent of the GDP. In this sector, financial and business services are the most important, followed by wholesale and retail trade, transportation and communications, and tourism. Electronic commerce (e-commerce), an increasingly important component of the service sector, is supported by Singapore’s well-developed telecommunications infrastructure. Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange. Singapore is Southeast Asia’s third most important tourist destination after Malaysia and Thailand, and in 2005 some 7.1 million tourists visited Singapore. Most visitors were from other Southeast Asian nations, especially Malaysia, and from Japan.

C

Manufacturing

Manufacturing accounts for 28 percent of the GDP. Industry has grown rapidly since the 1960s, and Singapore now produces a diversity of goods, including electronic items, chemicals, transportation equipment and machinery, petroleum products, rubber and plastic products, and fabricated metal products. Electronic goods—notably computer disk drives, communications equipment, and televisions—account for about half of the country’s manufacturing output. Singapore is one of the world’s largest petroleum-refining centers and is also an important shipbuilding center. The leading industrial area is the Jurong Industrial Estate.

D

Agriculture and Fishing

Agriculture and fishing contribute only a tiny share of Singapore’s GDP. Just 0.9 percent of Singapore’s total area is farmland. Vegetables, pigs, and poultry are raised for domestic consumption, although the vast majority of food must be imported. The fishing industry is centered on the port of Jurong.

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E

Energy

Singapore has no energy resources, so it must rely solely on imported fuels. Crude oil is imported and refined in the country. Singapore also imports natural gas to meet its energy needs. Some of the petroleum imports are used to fuel electricity-generating plants.