SINGAPORE, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's total merchandise trade increased by 9.2 percent to 1.1 trillion Singapore dollars (about 809.78 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, compared to the 11.1 percent growth in 2017, a government agency Enterprise Singapore said Friday.
Exports and imports grew by 7.9 percent and 10.6 percent respectively in 2018, the agency added.
Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose 4.2 percent last year, compared to the 8.8 percent increase in 2017, due to higher exports of non-electronic NODX which outweighed the decline in electronics.
In a break down, the electronic NODX declined by 5.5 percent in 2018, compared to the 8 percent rise in 2017; and the non-electronic domestic exports grew 8.2 percent, compared to the 9.2 percent rise in the previous year.
Chinese mainland is among the top NODX markets of Singapore. Last year, the NODX to Chinese mainland decreased by 8.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the non-oil re-exports (NORX) increased by 8.1 percent year on year last year, after the 5.5 percent increase in 2017.
Singapore's oil domestic exports grew by 17.1 percent year on year in 2018, following the 33.4 percent expansion in the preceding year. In volume terms, oil domestic exports declined by 4.5 percent in 2018, compared to the 6.5 percent rise in 2017.
The authority said the total trade and NODX growth are expected to moderate in 2019. Singapore's key trade partners such as Chinese mainland, ASEAN-5, the Eurozone, the United States and newly industrializing economies are expected to grow, though the pace is likely to moderate from the performance in 2018 and 2017.
Thus, it sets the 2019 growth projections at 0-2 percent for total merchandise trade and NODX.
