Manufacturing output falls 7.8% in August

Transport engineering posted the highest growth at 18.9% YoY.

Singapore’s manufacturing output fell 7.8% year-on-year in August 2025, according to the Economic Development Board.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output declined 2.9%. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, overall factory output fell 9.7%, or 3.5% excluding biomedical. On a three-month moving average, output rose 2.1% from a year earlier.

Transport engineering posted the strongest growth at 18.9% year-on-year. Aerospace output surged 36.0% on higher production of aircraft parts and sustained commercial MRO demand. Marine and offshore engineering rose 1.7%, whilst land transport fell 24.5%. From January to August, the cluster grew 17.1%.

The chemicals cluster rose 3.5%. Petroleum output climbed 12.4% from a low base, other chemicals gained 10.9% on stronger fragrance production, and specialties grew 7.2% on higher biofuels and electronic chemicals output.

Petrochemicals contracted 18.0% due to plant maintenance. Year-to-date, the cluster slipped 0.4%.

Meanwhile, precision engineering output declined 1.7%. Precision modules and components rose 2.1% on higher production of electronic connectors and power cables, whilst machinery and systems fell 3.2% on weaker semiconductor equipment demand. The cluster grew 3.9% from January to August.

Electronics output fell 4.8%. Infocomms and consumer electronics jumped 42.4% on stronger server-related production, but semiconductors dropped 8.8%, other electronic modules and components fell 13.1%, and computer peripherals and data storage declined 16.8%. Year-to-date, the cluster rose 7.1%.

General manufacturing contracted 13.9%. Food, beverages and tobacco dropped 15.9% on lower beverage, dairy and bakery production. Miscellaneous industries fell 12.7% on weaker output of structural metal products, batteries and paper containers, whilst printing edged down 0.4%. The cluster declined 9.3% for the year so far.

Biomedical manufacturing plunged 37.3%. Pharmaceuticals sank 59.3% on a different mix of ingredients, whilst medical technology grew 5.3% on steady export demand. Year-to-date, the cluster fell 3.4%.

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