74% of S'poreans say cost of living was 'very important' election issue, highest ever figure: IPS survey

The Institute of Policy Studies polled 2,872 Singaporeans after GE2025 as part of the Perceptions of Governance and Belonging in Singapore study.

According to the survey, 74 per cent of Singaporeans say cost of living was a 'very important' election issue.

This is in comparison to 36 per cent of Singaporeans in 2006 who said cost of living was a 'very important' election issue.

Other top election issues were the need for a good and efficient government, affordability of homes for Singaporeans, and fairness in government policy.

Affordability of homes was a new question first asked in the 2025 survey, and it ranked third among the respondents' concerns.

Candidates

The survey also asked what traits of a candidate those surveyed found important in political candidates.

Honesty, fairness, being hardworking / committed and efficient were the top characteristics, with larger percentages of those surveyed saying they were “very important”.

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