Households in Southeast Asia’s wealthiest state spent more on average last year than five years ago, but the impact of rising costs was offset by increases in income, according to a Singapore government survey.
Economists however note that while the increase in expenditure over the last five years was faster than the previous half-decade, not all the increased income may be immediately available for households.
“The government will need to examine more closely the components that are seeing higher increases and taking a bigger bite out of household budgets – housing, food and healthcare – to address concerns about rising costs of living,” said Chua Hak Bin, regional co-head of macro research at Maybank Investment Banking Group.
He also pointed out that such spending components are rising faster now and make up a larger share of overall expenses.
According to the Household Expenditure Survey 2023 which polled 13,100 homes and was published on Thursday, the average household spending increased by 2.8 per cent annually compared with five years before, higher than the 1.6 per cent annual increase over the previous five years between 2012 and 2013.
The survey found that average monthly household income rose by 4.1 per cent per year over the past five years, increasing from S$12,661 to S$15,473 (US$9,450 to US$11,550). This was a faster rate than the 2.8 per cent rise from the previous poll done between 2012 and 2013. The latest study was conducted between November 2022 and November 2023.
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