Xifres de comerç exterior de Singapur

Foreign Trade in Figures

Singapore's trade represents 311% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available), one of the highest shares in the world. Main exports in 2023 included electronic integrated circuits (22% - as Singapore is a global leader in the production of semiconductors and integrated circuits), petroleum oils (12% - the country is a major refining centre, processing crude oil from various sources and exporting refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel), machines and apparatus of a kind used for the manufacture of semiconductors (4.5%), turbojets, turbo propellers, and other gas turbines (3.7%), and telephone sets (3.5%). As the country is also a re-export base, imports were led by similar categories: electronic integrated circuits and parts thereof (20.8%), petroleum oils (19.1%), turbojets, turbopropellers, and other gas turbines (5.1%), and telephone sets (3.2% - data Comtrade). For the year, non-oil domestic exports fell by 13.1%, reversing the 3% growth in 2022, with declines in both electronics (-19.7%) and non-electronics (-11.1%). Oil domestic exports dropped by 14.2%, a sharp contrast to the 52.4% surge in 2022, mainly due to lower oil prices, though export volumes rose by 2.3%, building on a 1.7% increase the year before (data Ministry of Trade & Industry).

The main export destinations include China (13.8% of all exports in 20223), Hong Kong (10.6%), the United States (9.5%), Malaysia (9.4%), and Indonesia (7.4%), while most imports arrive from China (13.9%), the United States (12.3%), Malaysia (11.3%), South Korea (6.1%), and Japan (5% - data Comtrade). Singapore’s strategy focuses on promoting exports while reducing import barriers. It joined the RCEP, the world’s largest trade deal, covering 30% of the global economy. The agreement includes ASEAN and its FTA partners, addressing trade in goods, services, investment, and cooperation, along with rules on e-commerce, IP, procurement, competition, and SMEs.

The country has a structural trade surplus. According to WTO data, in 2023, exports of goods amounted to USD 476.2 billion and imports reached USD 423.4 billion (-7.6% amid lower energy prices and -10.9% y-o-y, respectively). With regard to services, Singapore’s exports reached USD 328 billion (-2.5% y-o-y), against USD 295.5 billion in imports. The decline in services exports was driven by a 23.9% drop in transport services, partly offset by growth in travel (80.0%), other businesses (2.6%), and financial services (4.7%). The overall trade balance was estimated to be in surplus by 37.4% of GDP by the World Bank (from 38.5% in 2022). According to preliminary estimates from EnterpriseSG, non-oil domestic exports grew 0.2% in 2024, reversing the 13.1% contraction in 2023, driven by an 8.2% rise in electronic exports, led by integrated circuits, disk media, and PCs. Non-electronic NODX fell 1.9%, a smaller decline than the 11.1% drop in 2023, mainly due to lower exports of pharmaceuticals, specialized machinery, and petrochemicals.