Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s economy maintained strong growth in the first nine months of 2026 although the pace gradually slowed quarter by quarter.
According to Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the country’s total merchandise trade reached nearly 178.8 billion SGD (140 billion USD) in September, up 50.8% year-on-year. Exports rose 51.5% to 94.4 billion SGD, while imports increased 49.9% to 84.3 billion SGD. Domestic exports of manufactured goods reached 34.3 billion SGD, up 46.7%, while re-exports surged 54.4% to 60.1 billion SGD.
In the first nine months of 2026, the country’s total import-export turnover amounted to nearly 1.39 trillion SGD, an increase of 36.9% year-on-year. Exports rose 38% to 743.4 billion SGD, while imports grew 35.7% to 646.5 billion SGD. Domestic exports of manufactured goods reached 251 billion SGD, up 19.8%, while re-exports climbed 49.5% to 492.3 billion SGD.
The Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore attributed the growth largely to Singapore’s role as a regional transshipment and distribution hub for electronic components and equipment within regional supply chains.
Singapore's trade with most of its 15 major partners also recorded positive growth during the period. Taiwan (China) provisionally remained its largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching 219.2 billion SGD, up 83.2% year-on-year.
The other four largest partners were China, with bilateral trade of 144.3 billion SGD, up 21%; Malaysia, 140.1 billion SGD, up 30.2%; the US, 129 billion SGD, up 27.1%; and Hong Kong (China), approximately 90.6 billion SGD, up 44.9%.
Some markets recorded particularly strong growth, including Mexico, where trade increased 175.6%, with Singapore’s exports surging 221.3%, and Thailand, up 86.7%. Indonesia was the only one among the 15 major partners to record a slight decline, with bilateral trade falling 2.3%.
According to preliminary estimates released by Singapore’s Ministry of Engery, Trade and Industry (MTI) on October 14, Singapore’s GDP expanded 5.4% year-on-year in the third quarter, following growth of 6.3% in the first quarter and 6.2% in the second quarter, revised up from the 5.9% announced in August.
This brought average economic growth in the first nine months of 2026 to around 6%, significantly exceeding the ministry’s pre-August forecast of 2–4%.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, seasonally adjusted GDP rose 1.1% in the third quarter, slowing from 1.5% in the second quarter.
Given these results, Singapore is likely to achieve, or even exceed, the ministry’s upgraded full-year growth forecast of 4.5–5.5% announced in August./.
Vietnam-Singapore trade surges 46.8% in first nine months
Singapore’s imports from Vietnam surged 123.2% to 19.4 billion SGD, more than three times the 35.7% growth in its overall imports. Vietnam’s share of Singapore’s total imports consequently rose from 1.8% to 3%.
