Singapore's December factory output surges 21.3% year-on-year

SINGAPORE'S manufacturing output surged 21.3 per cent year-on-year in December, posting its best monthly performance in at least two years, data from the Economic Development Board showed on Thursday.

This jump was above market expectations. A Reuters poll put the median forecast at 9.5 per cent year-on-year.

Excluding the volatile biomedical sector, output still increased by 16.1 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, manufacturing output expanded 6.4 per cent from an already strong November. Overall, manufacturing output grew 3.6 per cent in 2016 over 2015.

The December increase was led by the electronics sector which showed an output jump of 49.4 per cent from a year ago.

Transport engineering was the only cluster registering a shrinkage. Output fell by 10.5 per cent.

These results are likely to help revise gross domestic product figures upwards. Singapore will release fuller 2016 fourth quarter and full-year estimates next month.