The fourth consecutive month of contraction signals ongoing challenges for Singapore’s export sector
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) continued to slump in January, marking a 25% year-on-year decline—the worst in a decade—according to data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG). This was the fourth consecutive month of contraction, following a 20.6% decline in December 2022. The drop, which took NODX to S$13.3 billion, was steeper than the expected 21.9% fall, and marked the lowest monthly value since June 2019.
The performance mirrored a broader trend seen in other export-oriented economies such as South Korea and Taiwan. Despite the setback, economists note that the decline is consistent with global patterns, though the sharp drop reflects ongoing challenges in sectors like electronics. On a seasonally adjusted basis, January’s NODX increased by 0.9%, reversing the 2.9% decline from December. However, the growth was largely driven by volatile pharmaceutical exports, which helped offset continued weaknesses in the electronics sector.
Electronics exports in January fell by 26.8%, deepening from December’s 17.9% contraction. The biggest contributors to the decline were integrated circuits, disk media products, and PC parts. Non-electronic exports also saw a significant drop of 24.5%, driven by steep falls in non-monetary gold, ship structures, and specialised machinery.
NODX to Singapore’s top markets also fell across the board, notably to mainland China, the US, and Hong Kong. Shipments to China hit a seven-year low in value, although this may partly reflect the earlier Chinese New Year in 2023. The only regions to see growth in NODX were the European Union and Japan.
As the export sector continues to struggle, Singapore’s overall trade declined by 10.4% in January, extending the 7.7% drop seen in December. Total exports dropped by 9.6%, while imports fell by 11.3%. Looking ahead, EnterpriseSG expects trade performance to moderate in 2024, owing to the high base from the previous year.
