Singapore's factory output expanded 6.8% year-on-year in July, easing from the revised 7.5% growth recorded in June, according to data released by the Economic Development Board on Wednesday (Aug 26).

This reading aligned with the median forecast of 6.8% from private-sector economists surveyed in a Bloomberg poll.

Stripping out the volatile biomedical manufacturing segment, output grew 8% year-on-year, a slowdown from June's revised 9.9% increase.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, production rose 2.3% in July, a sharp turnaround from the revised 7% contraction seen in the prior month.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, monthly output also climbed 0.8%, reversing the revised 10.9% decline recorded in June.

Across the manufacturing sector, all clusters posted year-on-year output gains in July, with the exceptions of biomedical manufacturing and chemicals.

The key electronics cluster delivered the second-strongest growth among all manufacturing segments, with output up 11.2% in July, though this marked a deceleration from June's 21.1% surge.

Within this cluster, growth was propelled by infocomms and consumer electronics, which jumped 51.7%, and semiconductors, which rose 8%, supported by sustained demand related to artificial intelligence applications.

Other contributors included electronic modules and components, up 2.5%, and computer peripherals and data storage, which gained 0.8%.