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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose by 9.3 per cent in January from the same month a year earlier, Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) said on Monday (Feb 16).
The increase was led by electronics shipments, which grew 56.1 per cent in January - more than double the previous month’s growth. This was driven mainly by strong AI-related demand and a low base.
Export growth was lower than expected, compared with a Reuters poll forecast of a 12.1 per cent increase, and non-electronic NODX fell by 3 per cent.
Ms Selena Ling, chief economist and head of OCBC group research, also noted that January's NODX growth fell short of the bank’s and Bloomberg’s forecasts.
The main drivers of electronic NODX growth were integrated circuits (ICs), disk media products and personal computers (PCs), which were up 80.5 per cent, 70.2 per cent and 24 per cent respectively.
"The near-term prognosis for electronics demand, especially semiconductor, remains underpinned by the global upswing for AI, cloud and high-performance computing chip demand," said Ms Ling.
The decline in non-electronic NODX year-on-year in January was driven by specialised machinery, food preparations and petrochemicals, dropping 15.6 per cent, 49.2 per cent and 24.5 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, non-monetary gold grew by S$300 million (US$237 million), supported by high gold prices and demand for safe-haven assets amid economic uncertainty, EnterpriseSG said.
Among key markets, NODX exports to China, Hong Kong, the European Union (EU), Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand rose substantially.
NODX to China expanded by 37.1 per cent in January, while NODX to Hong Kong and the EU rose 34 per cent and 43.7 per cent respectively.
Shipments to the US, however, fell further when compared with the preceding month.
On a year-on-year basis, total trade expanded by 23.8 per cent in January as both exports and imports grew.
EnterpriseSG last week upgraded its 2026 NODX growth forecast to 2 to 4 per cent, from 0 to 2 per cent previously. It also noted that growth momentum in electronic NODX is expected to continue into 2026.
NODX is likely to contract 0.4 per cent year-on-year in February due to Chinese New Year, but should rebound to 3.5 per cent in March to bring first-quarter growth to 4.3 per cent, Ms Ling said.
