What is cost of living?

Cost of living is what a household spends to keep its standard of living. Singapore measures the level through SingStat’s Household Expenditure Survey — resident households averaged SGD 5,931 a month in 2023 — and the change over time through the Consumer Price Index, up 2.2% in the year to July 2026.

Updated Published 4 min read INVESTMENTS
Add us as a preferred source
Singapore · 2023 · average monthly household expenditure
SGD 5,931
+2.8% a year since 2017/18
Average monthly income (all sources)SGD 15,473
Expenditure, 2017/18SGD 5,163
CPI, year to July 20262.2%
Survey cycleevery 5 years
Monthly expenditureSGD 5,9312023, resident households
Monthly incomeSGD 15,473all sources, before deductions
Expenditure growth2.8% p.a.2017/18 → 2023
Income growth4.1% p.a.2017/18 → 2023
Largest CPI division29.4%Housing & Utilities
Headline CPI2.2%July 2026
On this pageLevel vs changeWorked exampleWhat it means for youMisconceptionsRelated termsSources

Key takeaways

  • Resident households spent an average of SGD 5,931 a month in 2023, up from SGD 5,163 in 2017/18 — 2.8% a year.
  • Average monthly household income from all sources was SGD 15,473, up 4.1% a year over the same period, so income grew faster than spending.
  • Housing and utilities carry the largest weight in the CPI basket at 29.4%, ahead of food (20.4%) and transport (13.1%).
  • The survey sets the level and the weights; the CPI then tracks how the cost of that basket moves each month — 2.2% higher in July 2026 than a year earlier.
  • A household’s own cost of living differs from the average by what it consumes: rent versus an owned home, a car versus public transport, and household size move the figure far more than the headline inflation rate does.
Definition

Two measures, two questions

“Cost of living” gets used for two different things: how much living costs (a level, in dollars) and how fast that is rising (a rate, in percent). Singapore has an official statistic for each, and confusing them is the commonest error in the debate.

Level · HESSGD 5,931Average monthly expenditure of resident households in 2023, from the five-yearly Household Expenditure Survey.
Change · CPI2.2%Year-on-year change in the price of the fixed CPI basket, July 2026. Published monthly.
Weights29.4% housingThe survey’s spending pattern becomes the CPI basket weights, so the two statistics describe the same household.

Neither measure is a personal budget. The cost of living calculator builds one from household type, housing and region; this page explains what the official numbers behind it mean.

Worked example

Where the average dollar goes

Applying the CPI basket weights to the 2023 average spend gives the shape of an average month. The weights are per 10,000 of the basket; the dollar column is illustrative, since the survey’s own category split differs slightly from the CPI divisions.

CPI divisionWeightShare of SGD 5,931
Housing & Utilities29.4%SGD 1,743
Food20.4%SGD 1,211
Transport13.1%SGD 775

Spending vs income, per year

Expenditure growth 2017/18–20232.8% p.a.
Income growth 2017/18–20234.1% p.a.
Gap+1.3 pt

Over the survey interval income rose faster than spending for the average resident household. Individual quintiles differ, and the survey’s detailed tables break the averages down by income group and household size.

What it means for you

Turning the statistic into a budget

Household budgetCost of living calculator
The calculator starts from housing type and region, then layers food, transport, utilities and schooling, mirroring the survey categories so a budget can be checked against the average.
Pay and inflationInflation calculator
A pay rise below 2.2% is a real-terms cut against the current CPI; the inflation calculator restates any past salary in today’s prices.
RentRental stamp duty calculator
Housing carries the largest CPI weight, and for renters it is actual rent rather than the imputed rent owners are assigned, so a renter’s personal inflation tracks the rental market more than the headline.
RetirementCPF LIFE plan comparator
The Basic Retirement Sum is itself derived from the survey — the expenditure of a lower-middle retiree household that owns its home — which is why retirement sums rise with the survey.
Government supportAnnual Value
GST Vouchers, U-Save and Assurance Package payments are sized with cost-of-living pressures in mind and tiered by income and the Annual Value of the home.
Common misconceptions

Five things people get wrong

Inflation is the cost of living.
Inflation is the rate of change in prices; cost of living is the level of spending. Prices can rise while a household’s cost of living falls if it consumes less or differently.
The average household spends what I spend.
SGD 5,931 is an average across every resident household, from one-person flats to large families. The survey’s quintile tables show wide dispersion around it.
Cost of living rankings compare what residents pay.
International rankings typically price an expatriate basket in foreign currency; the HES measures what resident households actually spend in SGD.
The CPI basket is updated every month.
The basket and weights are fixed for five years from each Household Expenditure Survey; only the prices are collected monthly.
Housing in the CPI means property prices.
It means rent and imputed rent, utilities and maintenance. Purchase prices are tracked by the HDB Resale Price Index and the URA Property Price Index.
Sources: SingStat

This page is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice. All figures and worked examples are estimates for illustrative purposes, are subject to change, and do not reflect any individual’s circumstances. Always refer to SingStat and seek independent professional advice before making any financial decisions.