Singapore’s exports surged in December as electronics shipments ended an almost three-year slump and pharmaceutical sales increased.

 

Non-oil domestic exports climbed 26.1% from a year earlier, after an 8.7% gain in November, the trade promotion agency said in a statement today. The median forecast of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 22% increase. Overseas shipments fell about 11% in 2009, the worst performance in eight years.

 

Singapore is dependent on a revival in overseas sales to sustain its recovery after exiting its worst recession since independence in 1965. Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said last week he doesn’t expect a return to recessionary conditions in 2010 even as exports may grow at a “sluggish pace.”

 

“We expect continued improvement in exports even though it will be a gradual one,” said Vishnu Varathan, a regional economist at Forecast Singapore  “Whether the end demand will be sustained, which will ensure a robust recovery, remains to be seen.”

 

The export decline in 2009 was in line with the government’s prediction for shipments to drop 10% to 11%. Exports fell 7.9% in 2008.

 

Singapore’s non-oil exports gained a seasonally adjusted 1.7% last month from November, when they rose 19.8%, today’s report showed.

 

Electronics shipments climbed 25.2% in December from a year earlier to $5.2 billion, after a 6.1% decline in November. That was the first gain since January 2007.

 

Non-electronics shipments, which include petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, rose 26.8% in December after increasing a revised 18.9% in November. Pharmaceutical shipments jumped 75.7%.

 

The performance of Singapore’s pharmaceutical industry is volatile as production swings by companies such as Sanofi- Aventis SA can cause industrial output to fluctuate from month to month. Drug companies sometimes shut plants for cleaning before making different products.