Singapore's manufacturing output grew at its slowest pace in eight months due to a plunge in biomedical manufacturing in July.
Manufacturing output climbed a more than expected 9.9% year-on-year in July, but down sharply from a revised 29.5% rise seen in June, a report from the Economic Development Board showed Thursday. Consensus forecast was for a 9.3% increase. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 20.2%.
Biomedical manufacturing dipped 11.2% compared to a 30.3% increase in June. The pharmaceuticals segment output declined 10.8%, primarily due to a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients produced.
Further pulling down the overall output growth rate, electronic cluster recorded only 24.5% increase after the prior month's 52.8% growth. Output of the general manufacturing cluster increased 13.3% year-on-year, faster than 11.9% in the previous month.
Meanwhile, output of the precision engineering cluster expanded at a faster pace of 50.9%, following a 45.3% rise in June. The strong performance was boosted by the machinery and systems segment which saw output surging by 94.2% in July.
As gains in the land transport and aerospace segments more than offset the decline in the marine and offshore segment, transport engineering cluster showed a 0.8% annual growth in production after decreasing 3.9% last month. Output growth of chemical clusters stagnated at 7.7% in July.
Month-on-month, manufacturing output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in July, reversing last month's revised 22% fall. However, July's growth figure was smaller than the expected 4.1% increase. Output remained unchanged in July after excluding biomedical manufacturing.
On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output in July advanced 31.3% compared to the same period last year. This was notably smaller than the 46.1% expansion seen in June. For the first seven months of 2010, manufacturing output expanded 36.6%.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore suggested a moderate growth in the latter part of the year after growing strongly in the first half. In its annual report, the central bank said the city-state economy is expected to expand by 13% to 15%.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.