Singapore Industrial Output Shrinks 2.5%

(RTTNews) - Singapore's industrial production decreased unexpectedly at the end of the final quarter, largely due to a slump in biomedical manufacturing output, data from the Economic Development Board revealed on Friday.

Industrial production dropped 2.5 percent year-on-year in December after remaining flat in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had expected a 1.0 percent rise for the month.

Excluding bio-medical manufacturing, industrial production expanded 0.5 percent annually in December after a 1.1 percent gain in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, industrial production fell at a slower rate of 1.7 percent in December, following an 8.0 percent plunge in November.

Among the major clusters, production in the biomedical manufacturing segment declined the most by 23.9 percent annually in December, followed by general manufacturing with a 15.9 percent fall.

Production in precision engineering showed a drop of 7.4 percent, while electronics output grew by 6.3 percent.