Container ships and bulk carriers behind the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino off the coast of Singapore, on Monday, February 19, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | beautiful images
Singapore's non-oil domestic exports in March fell 20.7% from a year ago, down sharply from a revised 0.2% decline in February.
The 20.7% drop missed expectations by a wide margin, with economists polled by Reuters forecasting a 7% drop. This is the largest decline in non-oil domestic exports recorded by Singapore since January 2023.
Compared to the previous month, non-oil domestic exports fell 8.4%, also higher than the 4.5% expected in Reuters forecasts.
Government business development agency Enterprise Singapore said the decline was due to a decline in non-electronics exports, including pharmaceutical exports. Electronics exports decreased 9.4%, while non-electronics exports decreased 23.2%.
Domestic non-oil exports to Singapore's top markets fell in March, especially to the US, European Union and Japan. However, exports to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan grew.
Enterprise Singapore said that on a seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports in March reached S$13 billion, below February's S$14.2 billion and the 2023 average. is $14.5 billion.
Singapore's total trade fell 1.8% year-on-year in March, after growing 3.5% in the previous month. Exports decreased by 3.4%, while imports also decreased by 0.1%.
Reacting to the news, Shena Yue, economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note that she “remains cautious” on the export outlook, noting that re-exports have boosted growth in recent years. recent months while higher value-added domestic exports are struggling. .
Yue also emphasized that as monetary policy is set to tighten in key export markets such as the US and EU, global growth will remain low and weigh on import demand.
“Thus, commodity exports are unlikely to create a big driving force for GDP growth this year. [for Singapore],” she speaks.
