Singapore's economy beat expectations to grow at its fastest pace in nearly four years during the third quarter, data showed Thursday, boosted by a surge in global demand that has buoyed Asia in the face of brewing protectionist fears.

The forecast-beating performance for the island-state follows similarly strong readings from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which have benefited from a pick-up in world trade.

The trade ministry said the economy expanded 5.2 percent on-year in July-September, accelerating from 2.9 percent in the previous three months and the fastest rate since the fourth quarter of 2013.

It also beat the 5.0 predicted in a Bloomberg News survey.

The improvement came as the key manufacturing sector, a key pillar of the trade-dependent economy, expanded 18.4 percent, from 8.4 percent growth in the preceding quarter.