Written Answer

Proportion of Singapore's Inflation over Past Five Years Attributable to External Factors

Speakers

Transcript

76 Ms Mariam Jaafar asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry what is the proportion of Singapore's inflation over the past five years that can be attributed to external factors, such as energy and import prices, versus domestic factors.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Energy1- and food-related components account for around 24% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-All Items basket2. These components are directly affected by higher global energy and food commodity prices.

Over the last five years from 2020 to 2025, CPI-All Items rose by 3.3% per annum, with energy- and food-related components contributing approximately 0.9 percentage-point to the increase.

Higher global energy prices could also potentially affect the costs of a broader range of consumer items in the economy, including through raising the costs of imported intermediate inputs and imported final goods. This broader impact reflects Singapore's heavy reliance on imports for economic activity and domestic consumption as a small and open economy. Accordingly, imported inflation plays a significant contributing role in overall inflation outcomes in Singapore.