Singapore: Inflation and manufacturing seen accelerating – DBS

DBS Group Research economist Chua Han Teng forecasts Singapore core and headline inflation rising to 1.5% year-on-year in January 2026 from 1.2% in December, helped by low base effects and stronger services prices. Industrial production is expected to post a fifth month of expansion, with January growth jumping to 20.0% year-on-year on robust electronics and AI-related demand.

Prices and tech-heavy output to firm

"We expect both core and headline inflation in Singapore to rise to 1.5% yoy in January 2026, up from 1.2% yoy for both indicators in December 2025."

"Price pressures have been picking up since 4Q25, following a period of weakness."

"For industrial production (IP), we anticipate a fifth consecutive month of expansion, with growth accelerating to a solid 20.0% yoy in January 2026, compared to 8.3% yoy in December 2025."

"Manufacturing growth was notably supported by strong electronics performance."

"The surge in electronics domestic exports to 56.1% yoy in January, driven by robust artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand for memory chips and server-related products, pointed to an acceleration in tech-heavy manufacturing output."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)