Singapore's GDP growth tumbled by an annualised 10.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 from the previous quarter, according to advance estimates from the government, marking the sharpest drop in a decade.

The construction and services sectors contracted quarter on quarter due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, while the manufacturing sector expanded by 4.2 per cent.

"As the global Covid-19 situation is still evolving rapidly, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty over the severity and duration of the global outbreak, and the trajectory of the global economic recovery once the outbreak has been contained," said Singapore's ministry of trade and industry. "The balance of risks, however, is tilted to the downside".