Singapore factory output turns negative, shrinks 7.8% in August with pharma and electronics hit

Singapore’s manufacturing output fell in August, snapping 13 straight months of growth, as pharmaceutical and electronics production shrank.

Total factory output dropped 7.8 per cent from a year ago, reversing a revised 7.7 per cent rise in July, according to data released by the Economic Development Board. This was far worse than the 1.9 per cent decline forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll .

Excluding the more volatile biomedical industry, production fell 2.9 per cent.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output dipped 9.7 per cent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, it fell 3.5 per cent.

Biomedical manufacturing was the hardest hit, seeing a 37.3 per cent contraction. In the period January to August 2025, output in the cluster fell 3.4 per cent from a year ago.

The pharmaceuticals segment in particular saw a 59.3 per cent drop from a high base in 2024, due to a different mix of pharmaceutical ingredients being produced.

On the other hand, the medical technology segment grew 5.3 per cent on the back of sustained export demand for medical devices.

Source: The Straits Times