SINGAPORE, Oct 17 — A surge in Singapore exports proved short-lived as a plunge in electronics orders put the brakes on goods flows in the trade-reliant country.

Non-oil domestic exports declined by 1.1 per cent in September from a year earlier, the worst performance since December 2016, according to government data released today from International Enterprise Singapore.

Electronics products reversed their huge August gain, dropping by 7.9 per cent year-on-year last month for the weakest since July 2016 as personal computers and diodes showed particular weakness.

Singapore had been enjoying an upturn in exports amid a global trade rebound that helped convince government officials to recently project a 2.5 per cent growth performance for all of 2017.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, in a statement accompanying a decision Friday to maintain a neutral policy stance, said it expects growth to be slightly lower next year as the global recovery enters a "more mature” phase.

Underneath the headline numbers were big swings in several markets:

Malaysia proved an outlier among top markets, showing a 21.3 per cent gain in non-oil exports, supported by a 46.6 per cent surge among electronics Hong Kong was among those showing big declines, with a 33.7 per cent electronics decrease that washed away the previous month’s 30.2 per cent gain in that sector. — Bloomberg