SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell 9.8% in April from the same month a year earlier, data on Wednesday showed, weighed down by declines in both electronic and non-electronic products.
Last month's decline compared with a Reuters poll forecast of a 9.4% drop, and extended the 8.3% contraction seen in March.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports rose 2.7% in April, following March's 18.4% growth. This was higher than analysts' predictions for a 3% decline.
OCBC economist Selena Ling said trade was still showing weak momentum.
"The anticipated recovery for electronics in the second half of 2023 still looks elusive. In fact, the deep year-on-year contraction in integrated circuits, PCs, disk media et cetera, imply that demand conditions may still be searching for a trough. Even the pharmaceutical export surge is insufficient to offset the electronics slump," said Ling.
Non-domestic oil exports to Singapore's top 10 markets in April declined as a whole.
Exports to China fell 20.9% on lower shipments of petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and integrated circuits, while exports to Malaysia declined 35% after drops in shipments of integrated circuits, primary chemicals and specialised machinery.