Singapore hawkers feel the heat of spiking inflation

In Singapore, hawker centers are one segment of the service economy directly affected by the city-state’s rising inflation. The famed low-cost eateries were forced to raise prices at the food stalls, which serve local favorites like Hainanese chicken rice, fish ball soup, prawn noodles, fried oyster omelette and chilli crab, by a record 7.4 per cent from last year, the biggest hike since official statistics started tracking the figure in January 2020. The Singapore hawkers, recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, are a vital conduit of Singaporean culture, providing bargain meals throughout the day for families and seniors….

In Singapore, hawker centers are one segment of the service economy directly affected by the city-state’s rising inflation.

The famed low-cost eateries were forced to raise prices at the food stalls, which serve local favorites like Hainanese chicken rice, fish ball soup, prawn noodles, fried oyster omelette and chilli crab, by a record 7.4 per cent from last year, the biggest hike since official statistics started tracking the figure in January 2020.

The Singapore hawkers, recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, are a vital conduit of Singaporean culture, providing bargain meals throughout the day for families and seniors.

Core inflation highest in 14 years

The price hike for street food comes as the city-state’s core inflation rose to its highest in fourteen years in July by a further 4.8 per cent, up from the figure of 4.4 per cent in June and driven mainly by stronger increases in the prices of food, electricity and gas, official data released on August 23 showed.

The last time Singapore reported higher year-on-year growth was in November 2008, when core inflation was 5.5 per cent.

Prices rise for transport and accommodation

The headline consumer price index, or overall inflation which includes accommodation and private transport costs, rose to seven per cent year-on-year in July, surpassing the 6.7 per cent reported in June.

“Apart from higher core inflation, both private transport and accommodation inflation also increased in July,” the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a joint media release.