Singapore factory output slips 0.1% in February

Biomedical drag masks electronics growth.

Singapore's manufacturing output fell 0.1% YoY in February, as a sharp decline in biomedical manufacturing offset continued growth in electronics.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output rose 3.9%, suggesting the headline weakness was concentrated in one cluster rather than broad-based across the sector.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, overall manufacturing output fell by 7.2%, whilst output excluding biomedical fell by 9.4%.

Electronics was the only cluster to post year-on-year growth in February, rising 13.7%.

Semiconductor output increased by 14.6%, whilst infocomms and consumer electronics grew by 21.9%, and other electronic modules and components rose by 40.4%, with the release attributing part of that strength to AI-related demand.

All other clusters recorded declines from a year earlier, which the release said was largely due to plant shutdowns during the Lunar New Year period. Biomedical manufacturing was the main drag, falling 27.3%, with pharmaceuticals down 18.0% and medical technology down 30.4%.

Chemicals output fell 4.6%, precision engineering declined 3.5%, transport engineering slipped 0.2%, and general manufacturing industries dropped 5.7%.

Despite the weaker February print, total manufacturing output for the first two months of 2026 was still up 6.9%, whilst output excluding biomedical manufacturing rose 12.4%.