In brief
The composite Purchasing Managers' Index for Singapore’s private sector fell to 56.7 in October, a 5‑month low, though it remained above the 50 no‑change threshold for 21 consecutive months. High demand supported employment and buying, while costs and inflation continued to rise. Forward‑looking indicators suggest near‑term growth will likely persist.
Singapore’s private‑sector Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slid to a five‑month low of 56.7 in October 2026, according to new data released by S&P Global on November 4. The composite gauge—which tracks manufacturing, services, and other private‑sector activity—remained above the 50 line that signals a change from contraction to expansion for the 21st consecutive month, signalling that overall business activity is still growing.
PMI values above 50 indicate that more firms report growth than decline. Conversely, a reading below 50 would mean the sector is contracting. The 56.7 figure – a fall from 58.1 the month before – confirms a slowdown, but it still signals robust expansion at the outset of the fourth quarter.
Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the data reflected a persistent "robust pace" of activity, driven by strong demand across markets. She noted that demand "underpinned growth in employment and purchasing activity" during October, even as businesses faced constraints that slowed the rate of expansion.
"The latest S&P Global Singapore PMI data revealed that business conditions continued to improve at a robust pace at the start of the fourth quarter," said Jingyi Pan. She added that strong demand "underpinned growth in employment and purchasing activity during the month."She also highlighted that overall input costs and output prices continued to rise, although inflation rates eased from September's levels. "Despite the operational‑constraints‑driven slowdown in business activity growth, forward‑looking indicators, including the new orders, backlogs of work and future output indices, all hinted at continued business activity growth in the near term," Pan continued.
The October reading shows that while companies are still adding jobs and increasing orders, the pace of that growth has decelerated compared to the previous month. Employers are still hiring, but the rate of new hires appears modest at the time of the survey.
Input costs – the price companies pay for raw materials and services – are on the rise, a trend that keeps the purchasing price index above the 50 level. Same‑time, output prices – the prices firms receive for their products – continue to climb, which can signal inflationary pressure in the economy. Despite this, price‑inflation measurements for the private sector are easing relative to September, suggesting that the sharpest parts of the price build may have peaked.
The forward‑looking components of the PMI – new orders, work backlogs and future output indices – were all above 50, indicating that firms expect continued demand in the months ahead. New orders, which measure the volume of upcoming contracts, remained robust, pointing to a healthy pipeline. The backlog of work – a tally of orders yet to be completed – also held above the threshold, reinforcing the expectation of sustained activity.
Economic analysis of the Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian markets has often used the PMI as a reliable barometer of private‑sector health. For Singapore, the 56.7 figure, while lower than September, still sits above the 50 level, keeping the country's private sector in the "growth" category. Yet the drop from 58.1 suggests a modest slowdown in the speed of that growth, which may be anything from seasonal factors to global supply chain pressures.
Seasonally adjusted data remove predictable fluctuations such as holiday or weather effects, allowing analysts to focus on underlying business trends. By adjusting for these variations, the S&P Global Singapore PMI offers a clearer picture of how the private sector is performing without being distorted by temporary spikes or drops.
With the PMI remaining above 50 for 21 straight months, Singapore's private sector still demonstrates resilience and an ability to keep expanding activity, even as growth slows. The present data therefore underlines a sustained, albeit decelerated, expansion that should remain above the no‑change threshold in the near future.
Overall, Singapore's private sector is showing a
