Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX), a key gauge of the export performance of the small and highly open economy, decreased by 15.6 percent in March year-on-year, said the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore on Monday.

The decrease in March was in contrast to the 2.0 percent expansion in the previous month, and this is because of a contraction in both electronic and non-electronic NODX, said IE Singapore.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX increased by 0.2 percent in March, in contrast to the previous month's 4.2 percent decrease, said IE Singapore.

The trade promotion agency said that electronic NODX contracted by 9.1 percent in March year-on-year, compared to a 0.7 percent expansion in the previous month. The decline in electronic domestic exports was largely due to ICs, PCs and parts of PCs.

While non-electronic NODX declined by 18.0 percent in March year-on-year, in contrast to the 2.6 percent rise in the previous month, said IE Singapore. The contraction in non-electronic NODX was led by structures of ships and boats, pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals.

On a year-on-year basis, NODX to all of the top 10 NODX markets declined in March, except Japan and China's Hong Kong. The largest contributors to the NODX contraction were the EU 28, China and Indonesia.

Non-oil Re-exports (NORX) decreased by 2.4 percent in March year-on-year, compared to the 1.8 percent increase in the previous month. The drop was due to a decrease in both electronic and non-electronic NORX, said IE Singapore.

Electronic NORX decreased by 2.8 percent in March year-on-year, following the 2.0 percent decline in the previous month. The contraction in electronic NORX was due to ICs, parts of PCs and disk drives.

While non-electronic NORX declined by 2.1 percent in March on a year-on-year basis, compared to the 6.3 percent expansion in the previous month. The decrease in non-electronic NORX was due to civil engineering equipment parts, pharmaceuticals and jewelry.