Services sector firms in Singapore expect more favourable conditions till March 2027: Survey

Singapore service sector firms expect business conditions to be more favourable over the next six months — between October this year and March 2027.

The Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) polled over 1,600 firms which account for about 70 per cent of the operating revenue in their respective industries.

The poll was conducted between September and October this year.

They were asked to indicate their expectations of the business situation in the next six months as well as operating revenue and employment in the next three months.

The Business Expectations survey for the services sector released on Monday (Nov 2), found that a weighted 21 per cent of firms were upbeat about business conditions, while 6 per cent anticipated weaker conditions.

This is an improvement of 2 per cent from the same poll conducted between June and July this year.

Among them, companies in wholesale trade and retail trade were most positive, followed by those in finance and insurance, transport and storage, and accommodation.

The wholesale trade industry — with a weighted balance of 23 per cent — expressed optimism on the back of strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related computing infrastructure, servers and data storage solutions.

Meanwhile, supermarkets and retailers in the retail industry were similarly upbeat with Christmas and Chinese New Year festivities around the corner, anticipating stronger consumer spending during these periods.

Operating revenue and job forecast for Q4

A net weighted balance of 16 per cent of service industries are expecting a positive operating revenue for the fourth quarter of the 2026 calendar year, a slight improvement from the 14 per cent last quarter.

In particular, businesses in the wholesale, and retail trade industries are most positive, expecting year-end festive spending to drive higher revenue.

Additionally, a weighted average of 11 per cent believe hiring activities will pick up — a slight improvement from the 10 per cent in the last poll.

Among them, the retail trade and accommodation industries expect an increase in hiring during the year-end festive season to support the expected increase in operational activities over the year-end festivities.

Except for the information and communications industry, all other sectors are expecting to hire.

新加坡服务业企业预计未来六个月（即今年 10 月至 2027 年 3 月）的商业环境将更加有利。

新加坡统计局 (SingStat) 对 1600 多家公司进行了调查，这些公司约占其所在行业营业收入的 70%。

本次民意调查于今年9月至10月进行。

他们被要求说明对未来六个月的商业状况以及未来三个月的营业收入和就业情况的预期。

周一（11 月 2 日）发布的《服务业商业预期调查》显示，加权平均有 21% 的企业对商业环境持乐观态度，而 6% 的企业预计商业环境将走弱。

与今年6月至7月进行的同一项民意调查相比，这一结果提高了2%。

其中，批发贸易和零售贸易行业的公司最为乐观，其次是金融保险、运输仓储和住宿行业的公司。

批发贸易行业（权重占比 23%）表示乐观，这得益于对人工智能 (AI) 相关计算基础设施、服务器和数据存储解决方案的强劲需求。

与此同时，随着圣诞节和中国新年临近，零售业的超市和零售商也同样乐观，预计这些时期消费者的支出将会更加强劲。

第四季度营业收入和就业预测

预计 2026 年第四季度服务业营业收入为正的比例为 16%，较上一季度的 14% 略有提高。

尤其是批发和零售贸易行业的企业最为乐观，预计年底节日消费将推动收入增长。

此外，加权平均有 11% 的人认为招聘活动将会增多——比上次民调中的 10% 略有提高。

其中，零售贸易和住宿行业预计在年底节日期间招聘人数将会增加，以支持年底节日期间运营活动的预期增长。

除信息通信行业外，其他所有行业都预计会招聘。