Manufacturing output in December rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, data from the Singapore Economic Development Board showed. The median forecast in a Reuters survey of 11 economists predicted a 4.4 percent expansion. It was slower than the 7.6 percent on-year growth seen in November.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production fell 5.6 percent in December, compared with a revised 3.1 percent growth in November.

The poll called for a month-on-month contraction of 5.4 percent.

Pharmaceuticals production in December rose 41.2 percent from a year earlier, while electronics output fell by 6.8 percent, the data showed.

(Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)