Singapore key exports disappoint with Il.3% fall in August

Performance falls short of economists' expectations as US tariffs take heavier toll

- Angela Tan

Singapore's exports shrank further in August, deepening July's decline as both electronic and non-electronic products were hit by tariffs imposed by the US.

Enterprise Singapore reiterated that it was watching the tariff fallout, and may revise its 2025 non-oil export forecast for Singapore if conditions worsen.

Compared with a year earlier, non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) contracted by 11.3 per cent in August. This follows a revised 4.7 per cent decline in the previous month. As a result, Nodx rose by 1.6 per cent in the first eight months of 2025.

The performance fell short of expectations, as economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.8 per cent increase in key exports for August.

Ms Sheana Yue, an economist with Oxford Economics, said the August data was weaker than expected, likely because the rush to ship final orders before the US tariffs kicked in has started to taper.

Singapore's resilience is set to diminish, she said.

The July and August trade data has reinforced her view that gross domestic product will contract in the third quarter on a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis.

DBS economist Chua Han Teng said that while US reciprocal tariffs on imports from Singapore have been maintained at 10 per cent, the increase in duties for the Republic's trading partners that kicked in from August likely filtered through the supply chain, weighing on external demand for Nodx.

He said Singapore's exports profile in the first two months of the second half of 2025 has weakened compared with the resilience seen in the first half of the year.

He expects more challenges and volatility amid an uncertain global trade landscape.