SINGAPORE: Singapore’s import prices declined for the seventh straight month in December, figures from the Department of Statistics showed here the other day.
The import price index fell sharply by 13.3 percent year-on-year in December, much faster than November’s 7.7 percent decline.
Import prices have been falling since June and the latest fall marked the biggest so far in seven months.
The oil index tumbled 39.1 percent annually in December and the non-oil index edged down by 0.4 percent.
On a monthly basis, import prices fell 5.0 percent in December, after a 2.3 percent drop seen in the previous month.
At the same time, the export price index declined at a faster pace by 7.3 percent yearly in December, following 3.3 percent fall in the preceding month. Export prices have been falling since February.
The oil index fell 32.0 percent, while the non-oil index increased 1.1 percent.
Month-on-month, export prices declined 3.4 percent in December, more than the 0.3 percent fall in the previous month.
In the whole year of 2014, the import price index slid 2.8 percent, a similar rate of decline as in the previous year.
Meanwhile export prices fell 2.3 percent in 2014, extending the 2.7 percent decline in 2013.
