Singapore's January export growth triggers optimism for 2021

SINGAPORE exports appear to be off to a good start this year, and the pleasant surprise has left economists optimistic about the year ahead.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 12.8 per cent year on year in January, up from 6.8 per cent in the previous month, according to Enterprise Singapore on Wednesday.

Although January's showing is partly due to the low base from a year ago, it still far exceeded the 5.2 per cent growth that private-sector economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting.