Singapore Exports Surge Helped by Low Base

Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports rose faster-than-expected in October, helped by growing demand and a low base of comparison.

Exports of goods made in Singapore rose 20.9% in October, compared with a year earlier, after falling 1.1% in September, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said Friday.

The median estimate of 10 economists in a poll by The Wall Street Journal was for October exports to expand 9.4% from a year earlier.

Compared with the previous month, exports rose 12.5% in seasonally adjusted terms, reversing an 11% on month decline in September. Economists in the poll had projected a median 5.8% expansion in October.

The data confirmed a broadening of Singapore's exports recovery after gains were led primarily by electronics earlier this year. While electronics production and exports have eased in the last two months, the slack has been taken by other segments.

Electronics exports rose 4.5% on year, after falling 8.0% in September, while non-electronics shipments grew 28.5%, compared with a tepid 1.9% rise in the previous month.

In the non-electronics sector, pharmaceutical exports rose 25.1% on year, reversing a 36% decline in the previous month.

The city-state's shipments to China, its biggest export destination, jumped 53.3% in October from a year earlier, accelerating from a 9.5% gain in the previous month, IE Singapore said.

Exports to the European Union rose 26.1% on year after falling 8.9% in September. Exports to the U.S. rose 17.3% after the previous month's 6.0% increase.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at gaurav.raghuvanshi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2017 19:44 ET (00:44 GMT)