That compares with a revised 8.1% contraction in June, data from the Singapore Economic Development Board showed. The median forecast in a Reuters survey predicted a 4.9% drop for July.

Electronics output contracted 0.9% in July on a year-on-year basis, narrowing from an 18.2% drop in the previous month.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing output rose 3.6% in July, after a revised 0.3% fall in June. The poll called for a 1.8% drop.