26.01.202605:48:02UTC+00Singapore Factory Output Slows More Than Expected

In December 2025, Singapore's manufacturing production experienced an 8.3% increase compared to the previous year, down from a revised 18.2% growth in November and below the anticipated 10.1% rise. This represents the smallest growth since the August contraction, largely impacted by a significant decline in biomedical manufacturing of 38.8%, following a 79.1% increase in November, primarily due to a substantial downturn in pharmaceutical production, which fell by 69.7%. Additionally, production decreased in the chemicals sector, with a contraction of 1.6% compared to a previous growth of 2.1%. Although the transport engineering sector continued to grow, its expansion rate slowed to 19.9% from 24.2% in the prior month.

Conversely, the electronics sector witnessed an accelerated growth of 30.8%, building on the prior month's 18.1% increase, spurred by a notable 32.4% surge in semiconductor production. Precision engineering also saw an uptick in production to 3.4% from 2.4%, while output in general manufacturing industries held steady, showing no change from a previous decline of 2.6%. On a month-to-month analysis, manufacturing activity recorded a sharp decline of 13.3%, marking the steepest drop since October 2020, following a 7.8% decrease in November.