Singapore’s September exports rise 6.9% y/y, much stronger than forecast

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports rose 6.9% in September from the same month a year earlier, government data showed on Friday,  led by a sharp rise in electronics shipments.

Last month's export growth compared with a Reuters poll forecast of a 2.1% contraction, and followed a revised fall of 11.5% in August.

Among key markets, major contributors to the export growth were Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, while shipments to the European Union, the U.S. and Indonesia declined, Enterprise Singapore said.

Singapore has been hit with a 10% tariff rate by Washington. Singapore's exports to the United States dropped by an annual 9.9% in September after a 29.1% fall in August. 

While the city-state's economy performed better than expected in the first half of the year due to the front-loading of exports and production to evade U.S. tariffs, authorities have warned that growth is likely to slow in the second half.

Enterprise Singapore has forecast non-oil exports growth of 1% to 3% for the whole of this year, saying in August it expected some weakness in the second half of 2025. 

Singapore is also bracing for the impact of sectoral tariffs, including one on pharmaceutical exports announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in September. 

Minister of state for trade Gan Siow Huang said on Tuesday that the implementation of the tariff has been delayed to allow companies to negotiate possible exemptions with the U.S. administration.