Singapore hiked its 2026 GDP forecast as global AI investment boosted demand for electronics and other technology-related exports, providing an unusually clear example of the AI boom showing up in a national economy.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry announced that it was raising the full-year GDP growth forecast to 4.5% to 5.5%, up from its previous estimate of 2% to 4%. The country revised its estimate after the second quarter posted better-than-expected GDP growth of 5.9% from a year earlier.
“The global AI investment boom has been stronger than expected,” the government said in a press release. “This has provided significant tailwinds to AI-related production and exports globally.”
AI-related spending drove demand for the country’s electronics and precision-engineering industries as well as wholesale trade in machinery and equipment, according to the government. In the second quarter, electronics exports rose 105% as AI-related demand remained resilient.
“For the rest of the year, a further acceleration in AI-related capital expenditure is expected to lift the growth prospects of economies plugged into the global technology value chain,” the government said.