US-China trade war hits Singapore exports as city state posts first annual decline in eight months
- Trade to the mainland fell for the fourth consecutive month in November, down 16 per cent from a year earlier, compared with 25.8 per cent the previous month
- Non-oil domestic exports from the city state fell 2.6 per cent in November year-on-year, a sharp contrast to the 1.2 per cent increase predicted by economists
Singapore’s exports fell for the first time in eight months on a year on year basis in November with shipments to China, its biggest market, continuing their decline on slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.
The contraction comes as economists grow increasingly worried about the impact of US trade war tensions on demand from China, with many expecting the dispute to hurt the city state’s trade dependent economy in months to come.
Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell 2.6 per cent in November year-on-year, a sharp contrast to the 1.2 per cent increase predicted by economists in a Reuters poll, according to the data from trade agency Enterprise Singapore on Monday.
It was also sharply down from the revised 8.2 per cent rise the month before and the first negative reading since March.
The decline in the headline export number comes on top of a more established weakening trend in trade with China, while growth in shipments in the volatile pharmaceuticals sector also slowed significantly.
