Singapore's manufacturing sector grew 13% year-on-year in May 2026, marking the third consecutive month of output gains, the Economic Development Board reported on June 26 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Electronics production led the growth with a 35.8% increase, fueled by strong demand in infocomms, consumer electronics, and semiconductors, supported by AI-related infrastructure investments from major hyperscalers [1, 2, 5]. DBS senior economist Chua Han Teng said, "Sustained capital spending commitments by major hyperscalers to ramp up AI infrastructure will continue to underpin demand for Singapore’s memory chips, server-related products and semiconductor equipment" [5].
Precision engineering output rose 32.2% year-on-year, driven by semiconductor equipment and precision component manufacturing [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. General manufacturing also grew 1.8%, mainly from structural metal products produced by miscellaneous industries [1, 2, 4, 5]. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, overall output expanded 17.7% year-on-year in May, outpacing the headline growth [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
However, output fell 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, partly offset by a 3.1% monthly increase excluding biomedical manufacturing [1, 3, 4, 5]. Despite growth, May’s 13% rise came in below analysts’ expectations of about 17.5-17.6% and was lower than April’s revised 16.5% year-on-year increase [2, 3, 4, 5].
Not all sectors shared the gains. Biomedical manufacturing contracted 24.2%, with medical technology down 18.2% and pharmaceuticals plunging 41.6% due to ongoing demand and supply issues [1, 2, 4, 5]. Chemicals output declined 11.5%, dragged down by petroleum (-12.3%), petrochemicals (-42.5%), and specialty chemicals (-2.8%) segments affected by feedstock supply disruptions [1, 3, 4]. Transport engineering output fell 5%, reflecting softer aerospace maintenance activity and weaker oil and gas equipment demand [1, 4, 5]. The computer peripherals and data storage sector also contracted 5.6% year-on-year [2, 4].
The Economic Development Board is expected to release June manufacturing data next month, providing a clearer picture of the ongoing momentum in key clusters like electronics and precision engineering.
