Singapore Manufacturing Output Exceeds Forecasts

Singapore's manufacturing production surged 17.6% year-on-year in April 2026, accelerating from a downwardly revised 9.2% in the previous month and comfortably beating market expectations of 12%. It marked the strongest growth since October 2025, driven by a significant increase in electronics output (44.0% vs 29.0% in March), particularly semiconductors (42.6% vs 29.4%) and infocomms and consumer electronics (129.6% vs 72.1%). Overall factory activity was further supported by stronger growth in precision engineering (15.1% vs 8.8%), transport engineering (10.1% vs 3.7%), and general manufacturing industries (16.9% vs 8.1%). In contrast, production continued to contract in biomedical manufacturing (-16.1% vs -14.0%) and chemicals (-17.6% vs -15.2%). On a monthly basis, industrial production climbed to a six-month high of 5.8% from a downwardly revised 3.5% gain in March, above market forecasts of 1.5%. For the January–April period, industrial production increased 10.2%.

Singapore’s manufacturing production climbed 10.1% year-on-year in March 2026, accelerating from an upwardly revised 3.3% rise in the previous month. It marked the strongest growth since December 2025, as electronics output surged to 30% from 23.4% in February, led by semiconductors and infocomms, and consumer electronics. Moreover, production rebounded in precision engineering (14% vs -5.5%), transport engineering (2% vs -3.2%), and general manufacturing industries (7.6% vs -4.9%). Output declined at a softer pace in biomedical manufacturing (-14.3% vs -25.9%). In contrast, output continued to fall in chemicals (-16% vs -4.8%), weighed down mainly by petroleum and petrochemicals. On a monthly basis, manufacturing output rose 4.7% after a downwardly revised 1.2% drop in February, marking its strongest monthly gain since October 2025. Over the first quarter of 2026, manufacturing output increased 7.9% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Singapore’s manufacturing production fell by 0.1% year-on-year in February 2026, reversing a 12.9% surge in the previous month. This marked the first month of decline in manufacturing activity since August last year, driven by weaker output across nearly all sub-sectors except electronics. Biomedical manufacturing (-27.3% vs -33.6% in January) recorded the sharpest contraction, reflecting shifts in pharmaceutical output (-18% vs -44.8%) and softer demand for medical devices (-30.4% vs -28.1%). General manufacturing (-5.7% vs -2.6%) also declined, as well as chemicals (-4.6% vs 2.3%), precision engineering (-3.5% vs 14%), and transport engineering (-0.2% vs 25.2%). Meanwhile, the electronics cluster (13.7% vs 34%) remained the key outperformer, driven in part by AI-related demand. On a monthly basis, manufacturing output decreased by 7.2% in February, slipping from a 2% rise in the preceding period.