Singapore’s trade performance fell in October 2024, declines reported in key indicators, data shows released data by Enterprise Singapore.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 4.6% year-on-year (y-o-y), reversing Growth of 0.9% in September 2024. Non-electronics exports led the decline, offsetting moderate electronics growth.

On a yearly three-month moving average (3MMA), NODX rose 2.1% in October 2024, a slower pace than the 9.2% gain seen in September.

Month-on-month (parent), seasonally adjusted (SA) NODX fell 7.4%, with exports falling from $14.6 billion in September 2024 to $13.6 billion in October.

NODX details: electronics above, non-electronics below

Electronics exports rose 2.6 percent on the year, recovering from a 0.7 percent decline in September. Integrated circuits (ICs), disk media products, and computer peripherals led the growth, with increases of 16.6%, 96.4%, and 236.1%, respectively.

In contrast, exports of non-electronics contracted 6.7 percent, erasing a 1.4 percent gain in September. The main contributors to the decline included specialty machinery (-22.6%), pharmaceuticals (-40.4%) and petrochemicals (-7.4%).

Exports to Singapore’s main markets declined across the board, with declines to China (-22.3%), EU27 (-21.4%) and Japan (-23.0%). These reductions were attributed to specialized machinery, integrated circuits and measuring instruments from China; pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment and measuring instruments in the EU 27; and PCs, measuring instruments and specialized machinery in Japan.

Oil exports are experiencing a sustained contraction

Domestic oil exports contracted 29.9% year-on-year in October 2024, accelerating from a 13.5% drop in September and a 5.8% drop in August. This marked the third consecutive month of decline after a 21.3% expansion in July 2024, reflecting significant volatility in this trade segment. Weak demand from key markets such as Indonesia (-40.5%), Australia (-55.6%) and Malaysia (-31.6%) contributed to the sharp decline in October. In volume terms, domestic oil exports fell by 13.1% year-on-year.

On a parent SA basis, oil exports fell 4.1% in October 2024, after a 9.5% contraction in September.

NORI and total trade decrease

Imports of non-oil intermediate goods (NORIs) fell to $4.8 billion on an AS basis in October 2024, down from $6.0 billion in September. This figure was also below the October 2023 level of $6.1 billion and the monthly average in 2023 of $5.3 billion.

Total trade contracted by 2.0% compared to last year, driven by a 3.1% drop in exports and a 0.9% drop in imports. Against SA, total trade fell 1.8% to $102.2 billion in October 2024, with exports down 2.4% and imports 1.1% lower.

Mixed performance in NORX

Non-oil re-exports (NORX) rose 7.5% year-over-year in October 2024, following a 4.0% increase in September. Both electronic and non-electronic products contributed to the growth. Electronics rose 6.9%, led by integrated circuits (+5.1%), PCs (+102.8%) and computer peripherals (+138.0%). Non-electronics rose 8.2%, driven by non-monetary gold (+62.9%), electric cars (+66.0%) and motors and engines (+10.1%).

In the market, NORX growth was most pronounced in Malaysia (+20.0%), USA (+23.0%) and EU 27 (+23.7%). On a parent SA basis, NORX rose slightly by 0.3% to $31.7 billion.

Perspectives and Implications

The sustained decline in domestic oil exports, along with declines in NODX and total trade, reflect ongoing challenges for Singapore’s trade-dependent economy. Electronics and NORX exports provided some resistance, but uneven performance in key markets underscores headwinds in global trade dynamics as the year draws to a close.