Singapore’s key exports up 7.1% in Q2; full-year forecast unchanged

[SINGAPORE] Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 7.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, extending the 3.3 per cent growth of the previous quarter, data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) showed on Tuesday (Aug 12).

Electronic shipments for the second quarter rose 10.5 per cent year on year, due to growth in PC, integrated circuit and disk-media product shipments. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of expansion.

Non-electronic NODX expanded for the second straight quarter by 6 per cent on the year, with the largest contribution coming from the increase in non-monetary gold, specialised machinery, as well as structures of ships and boats.

EnterpriseSG kept to its full-year forecast range of 1 to 3 per cent NODX growth, noting that the “external outlook remains supportive of growth, notwithstanding uncertainty”.

In the first half of the year, NODX clocked a better-than-expected growth of 5.2 per cent, supported by front-loading activities ahead of United States president Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

But this effect is expected to taper in the coming months, with the “reciprocal tariffs” having kicked in on Aug 7, said the agency.

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This could weigh on global growth and trade, said EnterpriseSG; the continued economic uncertainty could also dampen demand from Singapore’s key trading partners.

OCBC chief economist Selena Ling has tipped the full-year NODX growth to come in “towards the 2 per cent handle”, given the healthy first-half performance.

She noted that the World Trade Organization has forecast the 2025 global merchandise trade volume to rise by 0.1 per cent year on year. “While modest, this is already an improvement from its April forecast of a 0.2 per cent contraction.”

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Further, US recession fears have eased, but the proposed semiconductor tariffs could dampen market optimism, noted Ling. This could be a “wet blanket” on the artificial intelligence rally that has been driving US equity gains.

Services and merchandise trade

In Q2, NODX grew among Singapore’s top trading partners: to Taiwan, the rise was 31.1 per cent; to Indonesia, it was 32.5 per cent, and to South Korea, 24.5 per cent.

Total merchandise trade rose 7.1 per cent. Exports grew by 11.7 per cent, and imports, by 2.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, total services trade edged up 1.7 per cent in the second quarter, with services exports growing 2.7 per cent, and imports, by 0.6 per cent.

The growth in services exports was driven by higher receipts from other business services (5.5 per cent), financial services (6.1 per cent) and travel services (13.7 per cent).