Singapore industrial output growth slows to 3.4% in September
The increase missed the 7.8% consensus forecast, with electronics growth weakening and pharmaceutical production contracting sharply.
Singapore’s industrial production rose 3.4% year-on-year in September, compared with August’s 15.4% increase, according to Nomura. Weaker electronics and pharmaceutical production weighed on the result, which was below both the 7.8% consensus expectation and Nomura’s 9.6% forecast.
Electronics production increased 5.7%, a slowdown from August’s 28.3% growth. Precision engineering remained stronger, expanding 31% after a 33% increase in August, with semiconductor equipment manufacturing providing support.
Pharmaceutical production dropped 65.9%, following a 4% fall in August, which Nomura attributed to unfavourable base effects. The decline in chemicals production narrowed to 4.6% from 12.8%. Petroleum production increased 4.6% after an 11.8% contraction, while petrochemicals fell 24.3% following a 50% decline.
Across the third quarter, industrial production grew 8.5%, against 13.2% in the preceding quarter. That exceeded the 7.5% assumption underlying the government’s advance GDP estimate. Nomura said third-quarter GDP growth could consequently be revised to 5.6%, rather than the initial 5.4% estimate.
Nomura kept its forecast for Singapore’s 2026 GDP growth at 5.7%. That compares with a consensus projection of 5.3% and the government’s forecast range of 4.5% to 5.5%.
