Singapore’s key exports soar beyond expectations in September on AI and non-electronics boom
Singapore’s September non-oil domestic exports jumped 68.4% year on year, beating forecasts on AI-driven electronics and a non-electronics boom—a seventh straight month of double-digit growth.
Sheila Chiang
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose in September, extending from August’s expansion, led by non-electronics shipments, while electronics continued to rise amid strong AI-driven demand.
This marked the seventh consecutive month of double-digit expansion for the country’s NODX and far exceeded economists’ forecast of 32.2% in a Bloomberg poll.
Economists said that NODX will continue to be supported by the AI boom in the near term. However, they do not expect the exceptional performance from non-electronics to repeat next month.
Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) expanded 68.4% from a year ago, from August’s rise of 46.1%, driven by non-electronics, data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Oct 16 showed.
Non-electronics shipments expanded 54.2% year on year in September, following the previous month’s 11.9% increase.
The growth was led by a 124.3% jump in non-monetary gold exports and a 50.4% rise for specialised machinery. The year-on-year growth for “lumpy exports” of structures of ships and boats was not cited, as the exceptionally high percentage growth reflects a low base effect in the same period in 2025.
Surging 107.6% in September following a 131.6% rise the previous month, electronic product shipments continued to climb on the back of robust AI demand.
Growth was driven by a 149.5% jump in personal computer exports. Shipments grew 312.4% for disk media products and 74.7% for integrated circuits (ICs), or chips.
Standard Chartered economists Edward Lee and Jonathan Koh said that the outlook for electronics NODX remains sanguine over the next few quarters.
However, they warned that growth is likely to moderate beyond the near term as base effects become less supportive and the AI cycle matures.
“MAS expects the exceptional pace of AI-related activity to ease in the second half of 2027. A sharper or more sustained correction in AI-related assets could pose an additional downside risk if tighter financing conditions cause technology firms to reassess AI capex, weighing on electronics demand and NODX,” said Lee and Koh.
Meanwhile, DBS senior economist Chua Han Teng said that uneven dynamics persisted in non-electronics exports.
“While lumpy exports of structures of ships and boats as well as specialised machinery performed well, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals shipments stayed in contraction,” he noted.
Trading platform eToro’s analyst Zavier Wong said he does not expect September’s exceptional growth to repeat next month, given that ship and boat structures contributed $3.7 billion on their own, in a category EnterpriseSG calls “lumpy”. This means that those exports can fluctuate sharply from month to month because of a few large transactions.
Chua added that the global economic landscape remained complex, with rising energy and input costs, ongoing supply chain disruptions, existing tariffs amid evolving geopolitical developments, and tighter financial conditions posing challenges to certain non-technology-related manufacturers and exporters.
NODX to the US, Taiwan and Hong Kong expanded in September, while NODX to India declined.
NODX to Taiwan expanded 96.9%, extending August’s 58.5% rise, driven by an 85.2% jump in non-electronic NODX.
NODX to Hong Kong surged 112.1% in September, following a 62.6% increase in August, propelled by a 183.4% jump in non-electronic shipments.
Key exports to the US, Singapore’s single-largest export market, expanded 73.2%, while those to India dipped 5.6%.
Wong said he expects the NODX growth forecast to be lifted, given that EnterpriseSG upgraded its full-year forecast to a range of 14% to 16% in August, and NODX has already grown by 27.6% in the first nine months of 2026.
“Fourth quarter would have to fall by roughly a fifth for the year to finish inside the range, and electronics is still more than doubling. I expect the range to be raised, though how far depends on whether the ship deliveries keep coming,” he added.
Source: The Straits Times https://www.straitstimes.com/business/singapores-key-exports-rise-more-than-expected-in-september-driven-by-non-electronics?ref=top-stories
