Economists previously forecast an 0.8% expansion; only three out of Singapore’s top 10 markets post increase in exports
SINGAPORE] The Republic’s key exports contracted by 11.3 per cent year on year in August, surprising private-sector economists who were expecting a slight expansion, data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) showed on Wednesday (Sep 17).
Private-sector economists had expected a slight 0.8 per cent year on year expansion, a Bloomberg poll indicated.
The contraction was driven by declines in electronics, as well as specialised machinery, food preparation and petrochemicals, said EnterpriseSG. August’s contraction extends July’s decline, which was revised up 0.1 percentage point to 4.7 per cent year on year.
Both electronics and non-electronics exports declined in August. This brings the non-oil domestic exports (NODX) growth to 1.6 per cent year on year, for the first eight months of 2025.
EnterpriseSG said that it is actively monitoring the evolving tariff situation, and will adjust its 2025 full-year NODX forecast “as necessary” to reflect changing market conditions.
NODX performance
Shipments of electronics products shrank 6.5 per cent year on year, reversing from the 2.7 per cent expansion in the previous month. This was due to high-base effects, said EnterpriseSG, as well as declines in exports of disk media products (-28.1 per cent), integrated circuits (-7.4 per cent), and parts of PCs (-36.9 per cent).
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Non-electronics exports was down 13 per cent on the year, extending the previous month’s 5.7 per cent decline. In particular, shipments of specialised machinery (-29.1 per cent), food preparations (-51.4 per cent) and petrochemicals (-23.2 per cent) led the decline.
In August, only three out of Singapore’s top 10 markets experienced an increase in exports.
NODX to Indonesia contracted at 39.6 per cent, following a 32.3 per cent decline the previous month.
This was followed by the United States at 28.8 per cent contraction, China at 21.5 per cent and Hong Kong at 20.9 per cent. Thailand followed closely after with a 20 per cent contraction.
Shipments to the eurozone had the biggest expansion at 28.9 per cent on the year, though this was at a slower rate than the previous month’s 77.1 per cent increase.
Overall, total trade grew 3 per cent year on year, extending the previous month’s 8.2 per cent growth.
