Exports fell 2.6% in November year-on-year, data from the trade agency International Enterprise Singapore showed, falling sharply from the revised 8.2% rise the month before.

This was weaker than the 1.2% increase predicted by economists in a Reuters poll.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, exports contracted 4.2% in November after growing 4.2% in October. The poll predicted a 0.6% expansion from the month before.

Trade to top markets like China, Indonesia and Europe declined. Exports to China fell 16% in November from a year earlier, compared with the previous month’s 25.8% decline.

Electronics exports rose 4.5% in November from the year earlier, recovering from the 3.6% contraction seen in October.

Exports of pharmaceuticals however rose 8.4% in November, slowing significantly from the 89.7% surge seen in the previous month.