SINGAPORE - Defying analysts' expectations of a fall, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) eked out a 2.2 per cent year-on-year rise in April as growth in non-electronic shipments outweighed the decline in electronic ones.

Private-sector economists had forecast April NODX to decline 4.2 per cent from a year earlier, according to the median forecast in a survey of 13 economists by Reuters.

April's NODX growth follows the biggest monthly increase in more than three years in March, which surprised the market with an 18.5 per cent jump.

On a month-on-month basis, April's NODX contracted a seasonally adjusted 8.7 per cent compared to the 23.1 per cent growth for March, due to a decrease in both electronic and non-electronic exports, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore's latest trade numbers released on Monday showed.

NODX to all of the top 10 NODX markets, except Taiwan, the US, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan, increased in April 2015.

The top contributors to the NODX growth in the month were South Korea and the European Union, whose economies are staging a recovery.

Electronic NODX fell by 3.8 per cent in April, reversing the 10.4 per cent jump in March. The contraction was largely due to parts of ICs (-75.1 per cent), parts of PCs (-18.4 per cent) and consumer electronics (-44.0 per cent).

Non-electronic NODX expanded by 4.7 per cent, following the 21.6 per cent increase in March. Growth was led by structures of ships & boats (+3,566.7 per cent), non-electric engines & motors (+253.2 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (+7.5 per cent).

In dollar terms, NODX reached $14.5 billion in April, lower than the $15.8 billion registered in the previous month.