4th straight month of growth for S’pore factory output in Dec

Production rose 8.3% year on year; analysts remain cautious about outlook in 2026

- Benjamin Lim Correspondent

Singapore’s manufacturing production capped off 2025 with a fourth straight month of growth in December, led by the electronics and transport engineering sectors.

Total factory output rose 8.3 per cent year on year, easing from November’s growth of 18.2 per cent, according to data from the Economic Development Board (EDB) released on Jan 26.

This was still higher than the 7.5 per cent forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

Excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing sector, manufacturing output increased 16 per cent.

While December’s performance again pointed to the resilience of Singapore’s manufacturing sector, analysts say they are cautious about 2026's outlook.

It is unlikely that 2026 would see similar strong growth in manufacturing output owing to several potential headwinds, said DBS Bank senior economist Chua Han Teng.

Factories would have to face a high base from 2025, as well as lingering challenges arising from tariffs.

Mr Chua added that the divergence between the strong performance of the electronics cluster and the weaker non-electronics clusters could continue in the near term - going by the latest forwardlooking manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs).

There could also be more “external pressures on non-electronics manufacturing and exports as the lagged impact of higher US tariffs globally bites”, he said.

The key electronics sector, which accounts for more than a third of Singapore’s manufacturing output, saw production jump 30.8 per cent.