Singapore: Non-oil domestic exports rebound in January
Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) soared 16.8% over the same month last year in January (December: -1.5% year-on-year). January’s outturn marked the best reading since January 2022, but was partly distorted by the Lunar New Year holidays, which fell in January last year vs February this year. In seasonally adjusted month-on-month terms, NODX exports rose 2.3% in January, following December’s 1.7% decrease.
Annual NODX for both electronics and non-electronics rose in the surveyed month, with non-monetary gold exports rising nearly 200% year on year, contributing heavily to the improvement. In addition, NODX shipments to top importers rose overall in January thanks to surging exports to China, Hong Kong and the U.S. Meanwhile, exports to the EU, Japan and Thailand declined.
Analysts at the EIU commented on the outlook:
“External demand will recover tepidly in the first half of 2024 before picking up pace in the second half of the year, driven by normalisation of inventory levels in final markets and easing inflation in advanced economies, providing room for global central banks to start to cut rates. We expect the electronics sector to recover in 2024, albeit below the highs seen in 2020-21, which will provide a boost to Singapore’s external sector.”