Singapore’s October exports jump 22.2%, beating forecasts

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) jumped 22.2% year-on-year (YoY) in October, led by non-monetary gold and supported by electronic products, Enterprise Singapore said on Monday (Nov 17).

The increase exceeded a Reuters poll forecast of a 7.5% increase and followed a revised 7% rise in September.

For the first 10 months of 2025, NODX grew 4.1%.

Electronic NODX climbed 33.2% in October, continuing the 30.4% rise in September, led by integrated circuits (ICs) (40.9%), personal computers (PCs) (77.7%) and disk media products (31.4%).

Meanwhile, non-electronic NODX rose 18.8%, up from just 0.5% in the previous month, led by non-monetary gold (176.8%), specialised machinery (16.1%) and pharmaceuticals (25.2%).

Exports to Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong grew strongly, while shipments to the US and Japan fell. NODX to Taiwan rose 61.5%, following a 31.9% increase in September. Exports to Thailand and Hong Kong climbed 91.1% and 66.6%, respectively.

Total trade in October expanded 23.2% YoY, extending the 14.6% rise in September.

According to Channel News Asia (CNA), OCBC chief economist Selena Ling said October’s NODX growth was the fastest since November 2021. She noted that electronics exports suggested “still resilient demand” from the AI-driven tech boom.

Focusing on exports to China, which grew just 0.1% in October, Ms Ling said this likely reflected ongoing challenges in China’s domestic demand and potential weakness ahead.

She added that exports to the US, which fell for the sixth consecutive month, signalled softening domestic demand there.

OCBC has upgraded its full-year 2025 NODX forecast to 4% YoY, up from its earlier 2.5% forecast amid October’s “significant outperformance”.

The bank expects next year’s NODX growth to slow to 1% to 3%, given this year’s high base and uncertainties ahead. /TISG

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