SINGAPORE - Singapore's manufacturing output slipped 2.5 per cent in May from a year ago, mostly due to a contraction in drugs production.

The slide would have been 0.5 per cent if biomedical manufacturing were excluded, said the Singapore Economic Development Board on Thursday.

The chemical sector output rose 8.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis, with growth led by the petrochemicals segment which rose 14.6 per cent on the back of expanded capacities. The transport engineering cluster grew 5.6 per cent, while the precision engineering sector grew 0.2 per cent.

The general manufacturing industries cluster's output fell 1.1 per cent, while electronics production fell 7.5 per cent.

Biomedical manufacturing output shrank 9.2 per cent largely due to the pharmaceuticals segment, which fell 11.6 per cent with lower production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.