Xifres de comerç exterior de Singapur

Foreign Trade in Figures

Singapore's trade represented 337% of its GDP in 2022 (World Bank, 2023), the country being the 15th importer andexporter worldwide (WTO). Main exports include electronic integrated circuits (23.7% - as Singapore is a global leader in the production of semiconductors and integrated circuits), petroleum oils (12.3% - 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 (4.1%), gold (3.0%), turbojets, turbo propellers, and other gas turbines (3.0%). Imports, on the other hand, were led by electronic integrated circuits and parts thereof (22.7%), petroleum oils and oils (20.8%), turbojets, turbopropellers, and other gas turbines (3.7%), and gold (3.7% - data Comtrade).

The main export destinations include China (12.4% of all exports in 2022), Hong Kong (11.2%), Malaysia (10%), the United States (8.8%), and Indonesia (7.2%), while most imports arrive from China (13.2%), Malaysia (12.5%), the United States (10.8%), South Korea (6.4%), and Japan (5.6% - data Comtrade). The strategy adopted by the country is to promote exports while minimizing barriers to imports. Singapore has signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with 14 other Indo-Pacific countries. This free trade agreement is the largest trade deal in history, covering 30 per cent of the global economy. It includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and ASEAN’s free trade agreement partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea). The RCEP covers goods, services, investment, economic and technical cooperation. It also creates new rules for electronic commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, competition, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The country has a structural trade surplus. According to WTO data, in 2022, exports of goods amounted to USD 515.8 billion and imports reached USD 475.5 billion (+12.7% and +17% y-o-y, respectively). With regard to services, Singapore’s exports reached USD 291.2 billion, agaist USD 258.6 billion in imports. The overall trade balance was estimated to be in surplus by 36.2% of GDP by the World Bank. Singapore has revised its full-year predictions for non-oil domestic exports and total merchandise trade in 2023, downgrading them due to a less robust performance in the initial three quarters. The decline is primarily attributed to the trade of oil and electronics. The new outlook anticipates a year-on-year contraction of 12% to 12.5% for non-oil domestic exports and approximately 10% for total merchandise trade in 2023.