Singapore’s NODX continued its upward trajectory for the third consecutive month, recording a 6.6% month-on-month seasonally adjusted increase in November, according to UOB Global Economics and Markets Research. This growth surpassed Bloomberg’s consensus expectations of a 6.8% rise, largely due to a significant spike in pharmaceutical exports. Without this S$3.2b increase in pharmaceuticals, NODX would have contracted by 9.5% year-on-year.
The surge in pharmaceutical exports reflects strong industrial production (IP) figures from September and October, potentially influenced by the front-loading of orders following US pharmaceutical tariff announcements in late September. The Economic Development Board attributed the performance to increased production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products. The US and EU markets saw notable increases in NODX, with year-on-year growth of 106% and 66.3%, respectively.
In contrast, electronics NODX showed a moderated growth of 13.1% year-on-year in November, down from 33.1% in October. This was due to softer gains in integrated circuits and a decline in disk drives, whilst consumer electronics remained in contraction. Despite this, electronics non-oil re-exports (NORX) still posted a robust 36% year-on-year increase.
Year-to-date, Singapore’s NODX has risen by 4.8%, positioning it to exceed the official 2025 full-year estimate of around 2.5%. Looking ahead, UOB projects NODX growth to slow to 1.2% in 2026, as the delayed impact of US tariffs and base effects weigh on electronics exports growth.
