Singapore said Wednesday that the decline in its exports eased in May, with buoyant pharmaceuticals shipments offsetting a fall in electronics.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) were 12.1 per cent lower year on year. The figure was slower than the 19.2 per cent fall recorded in April and the 17.3 per cent drop in March, according to the data released by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the government's trade promotion body.

It was also better than the 16.6 percent drop expected in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of analysts. On a seasonally adjusted basis, NODX rose 5.6 per cent month on month in May following a 1.4 per cent drop in April, IE Singapore said.

The decline in May exports was the 13th consecutive month of contraction for the trade-reliant economy which fell into recession in the third quarter of last year as it was hit by the global economic and financial crisis.

Total NODX for May was S$10.94 billion and total trade fell 26.7 per cent to S$57.63 billion from a year ago.

NODX is one of the leading indicators closely watched for the state of the Singapore economy which is heavily dependent on exports, especially to the United States, Japan and other major economies.

Singapore's exports to its key markets remained in the red in May on weak demand for electronic products and petrochemicals.

Total electronics exports fell 21.8 per cent year-on-year while petrochemicals slumped 37.1 percent.

The only positive data was a 40.2 per cent rise in pharmaceuticals, another key but volatile export.

Shipments to Singapore's top ten export markets all tumbled in May with the exception of Taiwan and South Korea, IE Singapore said.

NODX to the United States fell the steepest by 35.2 per cent, followed by Japan at 29.2 per cent and then Malaysia by 22.9 per cent, it said.

Exports to the European Union sank 9.6 per cent and shipments to China were down 17.8 per cent.