Wholesale industry less optimistic about business from July to December

They expect the macroeconomic situation to dampen demand.

A government survey revealed that wholesale businesses, specifically, wholesalers of computers and software, were less optimistic about business prospects due to weak demand for computers.

According to the Department of Statistics, business expectations amongst Singapore firms will be positive from July to December 2023. Less than 20% of firms are upbeat about business conditions, and 11% predict deteriorating business conditions, with a  net weighted balance of 8% of firms expecting a more favourable business outlook. 

In contrast to the wholesale sector, the accommodation industry sees improving business conditions as hoteliers are supported by high tourist arrivals and hotel occupancy during the festive season such as Singapore Grand Prix.

Firms in the food & beverage services industry are also benefitting from tourist arrivals and other events.

The transportation & storage industry also expects a pick-up in their businesses for the rest of 2023. Land transport firms predict a rise in ridership and demand for their services.

Firms providing supporting services to air transport are also seeing silver linings as they expect an increase in air passenger traffic to boost their businesses.

The professional services industry is also optimistic about business conditions mainly because of positive sentiments expressed by legal and accounting firms, head offices, and management consultancy firms as well as firms engaged in engineering design and consultancy activities, citing an expected increase in the number of projects.

The Q3 2023 SingStat survey was held from June to July 2023 and covered 1,500 enterprises.