Singapore’s April non-oil exports rise 24.5%, higher than expected

Electronic NODX rose 66.7 per cent in April, easing slightly from the 73.9 per cent increase in the previous month. The surge was largely fuelled by strong demand for integrated circuits, disk media products and PCs.

Non-electronic exports also rebounded, growing 10.9 per cent after a marginal contraction of 0.6 per cent in March. The increase was led by pharmaceuticals, which rose from a low base, as well as specialised machinery and measuring instruments.

Among key markets, exports to the US, China and South Korea rose in April, while shipments to Indonesia were lower than a year earlier, Enterprise Singapore said.

Last week, Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said Singapore needed to make “bold bets” in new areas such as quantum technologies and space, building on adjacent sectors such as semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and aerospace.

Mr Siow, who is also the senior minister of state for finance, co-chairs the government’s Economic Strategy Review team that looks into global competitiveness.

“We don’t want to just be in the supply chain. We want to be the part of the supply chain that nobody can afford to take out,” he said.