Singapore’s key exports surprise again with 22.2% surge in October, beating forecasts

[SINGAPORE] The Republic’s key exports expanded by 22.2 per cent year on year in October, surpassing the forecasts of economists who had expected single-digit growth, data from Enterprise Singapore showed on Monday (Nov 17).

Private-sector economists had projected a 7.5 per cent year-on-year expansion, according to a Bloomberg poll. October’s expansion extends September’s upwardly revised 7 per cent growth.

Both electronics and non-electronics exports grew in October. This brings non-oil domestic exports (NODX) growth for the first 10 months of 2025 to 4.1 per cent year on year.

Electronics exports jumped 33.2 per cent on the year, extending the preceding month’s 30.4 per cent increase. Integrated circuits (40.9 per cent), PCs (77.7 per cent) and disk media products (31.4 per cent) contributed the most to the expansion in electronics NODX.

Meanwhile, non-electronics shipments rose 18.8 per cent, after September’s 0.5 per cent increase. The main growth drivers were non-monetary gold (176.8 per cent), specialised machinery (16.1 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (25.2 per cent).

In October, key exports to all but two of Singapore’s top 10 markets increased.

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NODX to the US contracted by the largest extent at 12.5 per cent, following a 9.8 per cent decline the previous month. This was followed by Japan at a 0.1 per cent contraction, reversing an 8.2 per cent growth the month before.

In contrast, NODX to all other markets posted growth in October. This was led by Thailand at 91.1 per cent, followed by Hong Kong (66.9 per cent) and Taiwan (61.5 per cent).

Overall, total trade grew 23.2 per cent year on year in October, following the previous month’s 14.6 per cent increase. Total exports rose 25.2 per cent; total imports were up 21 per cent.