Singapore's key exports in September decline for 12th straight month
While key exports declined in September, it fell at a slower pace than the month before.
Stacks of containers are seen at Singapore's Tanjong Pagar Terminal on Jan 17, 2022. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) contracted for the 12th consecutive month in September, falling 13.2 per cent, with both electronics and non-electronics seeing a decline.
This follows a revised 22.5 per cent decrease in August and a 20.3 per cent decrease in July.
According to data released by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Tuesday (Oct 17), electronics fell at a slower pace of 11.6 per cent year-on-year in September, following a 21.1 per cent contraction in the previous month.
Integrated circuits, personal computers and parts of personal computers contributed the most to this, falling by 16.2 per cent, 33.2 per cent and 38.9 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, exports in non-electronic products also slowed, dropping 13.6 per cent in September as compared with 22.9 per cent in the previous month.
Non-monetary gold, pharmaceuticals and food preparations saw the biggest declines, falling 59.6 per cent, 31.2 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.
NODX to the top markets as a whole fell, although NODX to China, Hong Kong and the US rose.
Taiwan (-34.9 per cent), Indonesia (-45.2 per cent) and Malaysia (-19.8 per cent) were the largest contributors to the decline in September exports.
On a year-on-year basis, total trade contracted by 12.3 per cent in September, following the previous month's 15.5 per cent decline.
Both exports and imports fell, by 12.7 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively.
However, total trade increased over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis. It grew by 4.2 per cent in September, improving on the 1.1 per cent increase in August.
In August, Singapore narrowed its growth forecast for 2023.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the country's gross domestic product for the year is expected to come in between 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent, narrowing from the previous 0.5 to 2.5 per cent range.
Last week, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced it is keeping its exchange rate-based monetary policy unchanged.
It also said that Singapore’s economic growth is expected to improve gradually over 2024, although it warned that recovery could weaker than expected given the uncertain global economic outlook.
