S'pore average monthly household spending increases to S$5,931 in 2023: Singstat

Singapore's average monthly household expenditure increased from S$5,163 to S$5,931 between 2017/2018 to 2023.

According to the Household Expenditure Survey 2023 released in November 2024, the average monthly household income grew faster than the average monthly expenditure per household member for all income groups.

Between 2017/2018 and 2023, the average monthly household income grew from S$12,661 to S$15,473.

Housing, food, and transport were the top three expenditure categories, accounting for 63.2 per cent of monthly household expenditures in 2023 compared to 64.0 per cent in 2017/2018.

What are households spending on?

Food

In 2023, 67.9 per cent of households' food spending was on food and beverage services, such as restaurants, cafes, hawker centres, food courts, coffee shops, and food kiosks.

This is up from 67.3 per cent in 2017/2018.

On average, households spend S$966 a month on food and beverage services in 2023, an increase from S$810 per month in 2017/2018 due to higher spending in restaurants, cafes and pubs.

Meals at hawker centres, coffee shops, and food courts continued to account for the largest share of food and beverage services expenses, at 50.8 per cent in 2023.

On average, households spent S$1,422 a month in 2023.

Transportation

In 2023, the average monthly expenditure on transport was S$951, a decrease from S$1,038 in 2017/2018.

This is due to a drop in spending on private road transport from S$762 in 2017 to S$678 in 2023.

The average spending on bus, MRT/ LRT, taxi and private hire car services remained relatively stable due to changes in travel patterns since Covid-19, such as more firms offering work-from-home arrangements, resulting in fewer journeys.

Online shopping

With the rise in popularity of e-commerce, online spending made up about 11.9 per cent of the average monthly household expenditure in 2023.

This is an increase from the 4.7 per cent in 2017/2018.

Overseas travel and recreation

The average expenditure for overseas travel dropped from S$339 a month to S$297, suggesting travel might not have fully recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels as of 2023.

This also led to lower spending on package holidays, including package tours and holiday expenses.

Households continue to travel to Asian countries the most, with 63.7 per cent of their overseas travel expenditures going to Southeast Asia and other parts of Asia.

The average monthly household spending on recreation, sport and culture dropped from S$341 in 2017/2018 to S$335 in 2023.

With greater and easier access to online news articles and information, spending on reading materials like books and newspapers has also declined.

However, there is an increase in spending on recreation services, such as sports practices from S$28 in 2017/2018 to S$45 in 2023.

Healthcare

The average spending on healthcare has also increased from S$320 in 2017/2018 to S$474 in 2023 due to increased spending on outpatient care services.

Education

Spending on education increased from S$374 in 2017 to S$404 in 2023 due to higher expenditure on pre-primary education and private tuition.

Of the S$404, about S$127 is spent on private tuition and other educational courses.

According to The Straits Times, in 2023, families in Singapore spent S$1.8 billion on private tuition for their children.

This number has increased from S$1.1 billion in 2013.

Top photo via Canva