Singapore ’ s exports rose at a slower pace in December , ending a year in which shipments jumped the most since 2003 as the global economic recovery boosted demand for the island ’ s goods . Non - oil domestic exports climbed 9 . 4 percent from a year earlier , after a revised 9 . 9 percent gain in November , the trade promotion agency said in a statement in Singapore Monday . The median forecast of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for an increase of 11 . 1 percent . Shipments rose about 23 percent in 2010 , the most in seven years , according to Bloomberg ’ s calculation using previously reported data . Asian economies led a global recovery last year that ’ s been restrained by sovereign credit woes in Europe and a U . S . job market where unemployment has exceeded 9 percent since May 2009 . Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ’ s government expects economic growth to ease this year after a record 14 . 7 percent expansion in 2010 . ( Bloomberg )