State of Government

A first-world Singapore is best measured by multiple aspects of its governance.

Inflation

MAS books highest S$30.8bn loss to fight inflation

Core inflation has been high as businesses have raised prices at a firm pace to rebuild margins that were eroded by sharp increases in costs earlier.

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Special transfers of S$3.8bn in 2025

This number exceeds the S$3bn in 2024 and 2023 combined.

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44% of Singaporeans do not believe they can attain financial freedom

In 2024, respondents scored 58 out of 100 in the index. This is slightly down from the score of 60 in 2023. 45 per cent comprise people who are unsure and those who have never thought about this.

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41% jump in ILPs sold in 2024

The Life Insurance Association said more consumers are leveraging ILPs for wealth accumulation, especially amid economic uncertainty and higher interest rates.

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Singapore's headline inflation above historical average from 1981 to 2021

Singapore’s headline inflation – this includes private transport and accommodation costs – hit 6.1 per cent in 2022, the fastest rate of increase since 2008

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Gini coefficient(wealth inequality) before handouts increasing

Accounting for household size (Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans), the median monthly income per household member rose by 0.8 per cent in real terms.

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22.9% increase in Wealth Inequality in Singapore

Between 2008-2023, this increase is the most in any country in the report.

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30% of Singaporeans cannot make ends meet

35% of Singaporeans did not achieve the CPF Retirement sums in 2021.

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In 2024, around 5,000 workers aged 50 and over were unemployed for more than a year

34% of NTUC members worried about losing jobs in next 3 months.

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HDB resale prices have risen by 44.5% over the last 10 years and 156.7% over the last 20 years

In 2024, 1,035 HDB flats have been resold for at least $1 million

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GST could increase again by 2030

Voucher Wong said: "The GST increase that we announced was intended for this, so we are okay up to 2030".

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Condo flippers make profit without even staying inside

Some score up to 100% gains without even collecting keys.

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HDB and private residential rents see sharp increase of 38% and 43% since 2021

The private rental market’s recovery is anticipated to persist into 2025, with projected growth ranging from 2 to 4 per cent.

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Newly MOP-ed 4-room flat at Bidadari sets a new record with almost S$800K profit

Since the launch price didn’t factor in any grants, first-time buyers or those applying under schemes like the Proximity Housing Grant (PHG) might have pushed their profit past S$826k.

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Record high Open Category COE of S$152,000 in 2025

This is the fifth consecutive time this COE category has broken its record.

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Temasek makes $7 billion loss as one-year shareholder return turns negative

Temasek posted a $7.3 billion net loss for the 2023 financial year that ended on March 31, its first time in the red since a $6.7 billion loss in 2016 and a reversal from an $11 billion net profit a year ago.

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Crime

51,501 reported cases of scams involving more than $1.1 billion in 2024

68% increase year on year from $651.8 million in 2023. ⭐⭐⭐

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Shop theft and physical crime at record highs in 2024

The police said the increase "may be a result of more widespread use of CCTV by retailers".

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Voyeurism rises 9% year on year

MRTs introduced announcement warnings to not engage in voyeurism.

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Knife crime rises 11% year on year

The police said the number of knife-related cases had remained relatively stable in the past three years.

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Man successfully sues Government for S$20,000 after false imprisonment

IO Rosli made up the observation that Mr Mah had been mumbling to himself and had spat into a plastic bag, to justify apprehending him under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.

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2 Men acquitted as Judge finds IO deliberately framing defendant

By the IO's own admission, he had drafted Mr Pek's first statement with the intention of framing him, focusing almost exclusively on recording information that showed his culpability, noted the judge.

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Rise in burglary after visa-free program

International criminal syndicates broke into landed properties here, stealing about $3.85 million from at least 10 homes between June and August.

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100% jump in crimes between 2019-2023

The total number of crimes has doubled from 35,115 to 70,342 cases between 2019 to 2023.

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Rise in new drug abusers in 2024

New abusers totalled 966 in 2024, more than the 952 arrested in 2023

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More drug abusers under the age of 20

There were 126 new drug abusers under the age of 20 arrested in 2024, 30 per cent more than the 97 nabbed in 2023.

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Outrage of modesty cases jumps 9%

Outrage of modesty cases increased to 1,610 in 2022, from 1,474 cases in 2021. This number declined to 1,427 in 2024.

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Two-year recidivism rate for drug inmates highest since 2015

The recidivism rate of local inmates in the various drug rehabilitation centres (DRCs) within two years of release is the highest it has been since 2015.

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9,680 people caught using or possessing vapes in the first nine months of 2024

This is more than the 7,838 people caught in the whole of 2023.

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Assistant director at NLB received S$90k in bribes

The chief financial officer and director of an engineering services firm conspired with two other men to give $90,000 in bribes to an assistant director at the National Library Board (NLB).

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Scammers posing as PDPC officers dupe victims of at least S$231,000 in 2025

Just only four such cases reported this year had total losses amounting to at least S$231,000.

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Emerging trend of drug trafficking concealed in vapes

Care Corner - "We are seeing users as young as 12 years old experimenting with Kpods, to 18- to 19-year-olds taking Kpods regularly."

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Rise in violence against Police officers

Cases: Whampoa, Pasir Ris, Jalan Sultan, Hougang, Bukit Timah

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Drink driving accidents up, more deaths in first half of 2024

Injuries and deaths resulting from road traffic accidents went up in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period a year before, the police said on Saturday (Aug 24).

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Drink driving deaths on the rise

There were 10 deaths from 123 accidents caused by drink driving in the first nine months of 2024.

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Traffic deaths, injuries hit five-year high; increase in fatal accidents linked to speeding

The number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents hit a five-year high in 2024. In total, traffic enforcement cameras caught 100,720 speeding violations in 2024, more than double the number in 2023.

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Governance

DBS faces repeated outages

DBS said in November 2023 that it had set aside a special budget of S$80 million to enhance its technology and system resiliency.

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Man who oversaw PA youth network handed jail sentence for sexually assaulting teen

The accused was then managing PA’s community projects in the South East and North West community development councils (CDCs), and oversaw the South East CDC’s youth network programme.

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Ex-director at zoo admits obtaining over $2.4m in bribes and awarding jobs to firms in exchange

The facilities management director at the Singapore Zoological Gardens, a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), obtained more than $2.4 million in bribes between July 2005 and October 2016.

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Nee Soon Town Council Manager collected S$396,000 in kickbacks from 57 migrant workers

Minister K Shanmugam stated that the council’s decision to report the case to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) demonstrated the effectiveness of whistleblower mechanisms.

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Early BTOs may have caused increase in divorce rates

Divorce rates for women aged 30 to 34 rose from 4 to 7.2 per cent, and from 3.5 to 6.3 per cent for men aged 35 to 39.

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Rule changes for PAP Presidents

This also includes amending constitution for President Tharman

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Governance lapse in Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF)

The council does not believe that a police report is warranted at this point, it added.

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Bishan-Toa Payoh only town council to miss top rating in corporate governance

BTPTC was given an amber rating for the 2023 financial year because of multiple instances of administrative oversight.

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Chee Hong Tat makes 'judgment error' to phase out older ez-link cards

Taxpayers are to foot S$40m to keep this old system until 2030.

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LTA U-turns on decision to stop bus service 167

LTA said on Nov 28 it had decided to retain service 167 for now, citing the need to allow more time for commuters to adjust and try new routes.

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S$556 million OBU fails to meet AEC-Q100 heat test

Minister Chee circumvented this direct inquiry, offering assurances of various tests conducted by the LTA without confirming if the device actually meets the AECQ 100 standards.

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OGP Hackathon creation of ERPX costs $0

The current ERP infrastructure has reached end-of-life and needs to be decommissioned soon. Its successor, ERP 2.0, has encountered significant headwinds in the public eye.

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Singpass Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary push for headcount reductions without adjusting project scope

In Li Hongyi's resignation, he reportedly outlines that the pressures to accelerate migration and maintain non-core product support were inconsistent with the goals he initially agreed upon, creating, in his words, a situation “beyond my ability to comprehend.”

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NTUC Allianz Saga: MCCY and most of the Government knew about it only when it was publicly announced in mid-July

WP MP Sylvia Lim: Urgently passing the Bill without convening a select committee “may have dented the reputation of Parliament”.

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NTUC deputy secretary-general Desmond Tan did not know of the insurers’ plan to return $1.85 billion

Income’s chairman Ronald Ong is also chairman of Morgan Stanley’s South-east Asia business.

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Overpayments by MOE, NParks among lapses flagged in Auditor-General report

Overpayments by MOE and NParks were highlighted under lapses in procurement and contract management.

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Mobile Guardian data from 13,000 personal learning devices was wiped out in August

Less than 5 per cent of users were unable to recover all their data because the devices were not backed up.

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MOE informed the user that the reported vulnerability was “no longer a concern” after a review.

Informant rebuts MOE’s claim of patched security flaw in Mobile Guardian system

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Public transport fares should not be linked to service levels and disruptions: Chee Hong Tat

MPs filed 31 parliamentary questions on the disruption, which stopped train services between Jurong East and Buona Vista MRT stations for six days.

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NRIC Saga: No evidence of deliberate wrongdoing

It has identified close to 800 existing use cases of partial NRIC numbers in public-facing systems, each with their specific context and characteristics.

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Officers, leaders involved in NRIC unmasking saga may face financial consequences

Counselling, training and financial consequences for those involved but not for Ministers. Josephine Teo: “We are very sorry to have caused them much anxiety,”

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3 MRT disruptions in 1 week caused by 'unrelated' incidents: LTA

According to a statement by LTA, the three delays resulted from issues such as a malfunctioning electronic card, a power trip affecting multiple stations, and a stalled engineering vehicle.

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Former SAF Brigadier-General appointed as CEO of Early Childhood Development Agency(ECDA)

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said “several qualified candidates” had been considered, but Mr Tan was assessed to be the "most suitable".

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Opposition MPs threw public servants 'under the bus' in debate on Income-Allianz deal: Chee Hong Tat

Mr Chee asked Jamus Lim to withdraw his "unfounded allegations about the public service officers in our system facing constraints from the government of the day when it comes to sharing of information".

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Construction firms urged to take safety timeout after 10 workplace deaths in 4 months

Ten construction workers died on the job in the four months from July to October, compared with five in the first six months of 2024.

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‘We don’t want overmaintenance’: SMRT chairman

SMRT believes it is close to finding the right balance between rail reliability and the cost of maintaining service levels

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GovTech "offered about 60 positions to ex-Indeed staff with salaries that were "inflated"; and new hires had no deliverables."

This drew concern from some members of the public, with more than 60 comments on the original post.

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Marine Parade has free shuttle buses and special Family Voucher

Special Marine Parade Family Vouchers and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the Marine Parade shuttle is a community initiative that is separate from the public transport network.

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NCS leaks information on new COE policy prematurely

A NCS spokesperson clarified that a data leak had not occurred but rather it was due to a "deployment error".

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Temasek may only recover up to 10% on eFishery fraud

75% of the company’s reported figures were fabricated, which is slightly better than the FTX fabrication.

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SkillsFuture Singapore reviewed only 25% of training providers for low quality courses

There are more than 29,000 SkillsFuture courses, offered by over 600 training providers.

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MHA allows hiring of auxiliary cops from China, India

Josephine Teo: "It will also hire more foreigners to fill certain roles that Singaporeans might not be keen on", as pay for APOs start at 44 hours for S$2.5k before CPF.

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311 Healthcare personnel petition for workers to stop being ferried in lorries after workplace deaths highest

Just a day after the petition was sent in, another accident occurred in Punggol, leading to 5 migrant workers being conveyed to hospital. Larger firms should be given 18 months, while smaller businesses should get 36 months to move away from transporting their workers on lorries. Workplace deaths rose year on year.

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Singpost divests as S&P puts it on CreditWatch negative

The loss of a key earnings pillar introduces uncertainty over SingPost’s future strategy and earnings contribution, said S&P.

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SPH Media Trust fails to meet KPIs

Singapore studying global moves to keep public service media prominent amid digital shift

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Healthcare

122% jump in vaping cases among students

2,000 cases of students possessing or using vapes in 2024, up from 900 in 2023

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Surge in Stillbirths and Perinatal Deaths Rocks Singapore in 2023

25% increase in perinatal mortality and a 32% rise in stillbirths year on year.

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Natural increase in deaths shot up to -13.0%

During the peak of excess deaths in Q2 2023, Singapore ranked number one in the world in terms of excess deaths.

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Singapore ranks as the country with the highest suicide rate in Southeast Asia (54th worldwide)

Singapore holds the highest position in Southeast Asia, ranking 54th globally with a suicide rate of 11.2 per 100,000 people.

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Mental health was one of the top reasons primary school kids in Singapore called helpline in 2023

This is a 32 per cent increase compared with the preceding five years, which had an average of 3,900 chats and calls.

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50% rise in autism

The number of children aged six and below with developmental needs, which include speech and language delay and behavioural problems, has increased by 32 per cent from 5,300 in 2019, to 7,000 in 2023.

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KKH seeing sharp rise in eczema cases

The number of people stricken with moderate to severe forms of the disease – with skin that may ooze fluid, crust or bleed – appears to be rising.

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Singapore doctors see more patients with shingles over past 2 years

Doctors attributed the increase in the painful and itchy condition to the ageing population, and weakened immune systems from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Cases of whooping cough spike in Singapore

Pertussis or the 100-day cough increased fivefold compared with the same period the previous year.

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Childhood trauma costs Singapore S$1.18bn a year

$1.18 billion a year in absenteeism, reduced productivity and use of healthcare resources.

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10% obesity and 30% overweight in Singapore

Specifically, the prevalence of obesity among males rose from 11.9% to 13.1%, while among females, it increased from 9.3% to 10.2%.

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1 in 3 youth in S’pore reported very poor mental health

27% had severe or extremely severe symptoms of anxiety such as feeling worried, tense and restless.

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Singapore amended the law to remove mandating investigations into deaths by vaccines

In May 2023, parliament passed an amendment removing a line that mandated an investigation for ”deaths occurring directly or indirectly as a result of any medical treatment or care.”

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Singapore experiences massive surge in crude excess mortality

Crude excess mortality surges above 16% from 2021 to 2024.

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Economy

Half of Singaporeans have less than S$135k net worth

16.0% of the adult population (or 796,320 adults) in Singapore have less than S$13,500 of wealth

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Record high in F&B businesses shutdown since 2005

According to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, 3,047 food and beverage (F&B) businesses shut down in 2024, the highest number since 2005.

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Companies forced to wind up hit 15-year high in 2024

307 compulsory liquidations in 2024, a jump of 53 per cent from 201 in 2023 and ahead of pre-Covid peak of 287 in 2019

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Singapore underperforms in productivity growth relative to trading partners

Total factor productivity (TFP) growth has been mostly negative in the last 10 years.

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Grab, Gojek drivers say they earned less in 2024

Grab says the income dip is 'seasonal'

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More fresh graduates were unemployed – 12.9 per cent in 2024, up from 10.4 per cent in 2023.

79.5 per cent of graduates secured full-time positions in 2024, down from 84.1 per cent in 2023.

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3,600 retrenchments in the fourth quarter of 2024, up from 3,050 in the previous quarter

The ministry said the latest figure is still in line with norms for non-recession years.

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Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of Singaporeans increased from 2.7 per cent in September 2024 to 2.9 per cent in October 2024

The level in November and December and was within the typical range for non-recession periods, said the ministry.

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Steady increase in debt collections from platform workers

For eight quarters since January 2023, the proportion of platform workers – private-hire drivers and delivery riders – who applied for personal loans due to cost-of-living pressures had risen by 12 per cent.

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Overall average retail prime rents expected to grow by 2 to 3 per cent in 2025

Real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) with retail assets in Singapore continued to post strong committed occupancy and positive rental reversions in their latest reporting period ended December.

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Nearly half of Singaporeans feel underpaid: survey

Unsatisfaction over wages is highest in Singapore when compared to other Asia-Pacific nations such as India (41%), Australia (42%), Japan (36%), and China (31%).

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Record purchases of S$40m coffeeshops

Cases: Yishun for S$40m, Serangoon for S$40.5m, Serangoon for S$13.2m, Bukit Batok for S$31m

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Tampines coffee shop sold for record $41.68m; tenants say rent doubled

The owner of Zaleha Food Corner, who wanted to be known only as Madam Zaleha, 66, said rent doubled from $6,000 to $12,000.

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More graduates remained jobless six months after leaving school

The proportion of graduates in part-time or temporary employment also rose to 6 per cent from 4 per cent in 2023.

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Grab, Gojek, Tada and CDG Zig rides to cost up to 50 cents more from 2025

Grab, the largest ride-hailing firm here, will raise its platform fee by 20 cents from 70 cents to 90 cents per trip from Jan 1, 2025.

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Closures in the food and beverage sector have averaged 307 per month so far this year, up from 254 per month in 2024

The ratio of closures to openings in 2025 and 2024 was higher than before and during the pandemic, pointing to a shrinking sector.

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52% of residents, not Singaporeans, believe they need S$1m for financial independence

Out of 71 per cent of respondents who said they had financial plans, only about half said they had begun planning for their retirement.

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Employment

~80% of Singaporeans earn less than S$6k

Half of Singaporeans do not earn more than S$20k annually. 80% have an effective tax rate of 4%.

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91.3% of total employment growth in the last 3 years to foreigners

It is unclear how many of the balance 8.7% went to Singaporeans since resident employment growth (30,300) includes PRs.103,984 new PRs were granted in the last 3 years. It is unclear how many non-residents converted to PRs and were counted as resident employment growth.

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Tiktok cuts trust and safety jobs in Singapore as part of global layoffs

The latest exercise follows major recent cuts by TikTok to its global workforce in 2024. In May 2024, TikTok had reportedly planned to lay off a large proportion of roughly 1,000 workers from its global user, content and marketing teams worldwide.

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SingPost lay off 45 workers

A SingPost spokesperson said the layoffs are “not correlated with any previous incidents or whistle-blowing reports”.

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Meta layoffs hit Singapore as tech giant cuts global workforce

Meta had previously announced that it would lay off 5 per cent of its “lowest performers”, impacting about 3,600 jobs worldwide, including those in Asia.

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PropertyGuru lays off 174 employees, closes 3 units

The cuts affect employees across all markets and functions and amount to around 12 per cent of the firm’s workforce.

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DBS expects to shrink contract and temp jobs by 4,000 over next 3 years

DBS has 8,000 to 9,000 of such workers, according to Mr Gupta, who said permanent staff will not be affected.

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BBC tells some staff in Singapore bureau to reapply for jobs amid restructuring exercise

Affected staff have been given the chance to compete with external candidates for 11 new roles but were also told that they could be retrenched.

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Carousell cuts 7% of total headcount, 46 roles in Singapore affected

The remaining cuts were spread across the seven other regional markets that the firm has a presence in, including Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

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Samsung lays off workers in S’pore amid global job cuts

An employee, who has been with the company for more than a year, said there was no prior communication from management.

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Ninja Van cuts 5% of Singapore workforce

The latest round of layoffs follows an exercise on April 30 that cut about 10 per cent of its tech team and drew flak from the National Trades Union Congress for its timing – a day before May Day.

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Singapore shipping firm PIL cuts staff amid automation drive

The lay-offs took place amid a move by PIL to adopt artificial intelligence-driven technologies to boost its efficiency and global competitiveness, for which it had also added more than 30 per cent to its Singapore workforce.

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Shein lays off 17 employees in Singapore even amid continued hiring

In August, the Seoul authorities also found that women’s accessories sold by Shein contained toxic substances, sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels.

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Canon S’pore cuts staff from its 700-strong local workforce

The firm told The Straits Times that a "low single-digit percentage" of its 700-strong workforce here were affected.

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Doctor Anywhere cuts 8% of total headcount, some roles in Singapore affected

Telemedicine provider Doctor Anywhere is shedding 45 jobs, or 8.1 per cent of its total headcount, in a move to cut costs and reprioritise its operations.

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One Championship lays off staff including those from its Singapore office

Its institutional investors include Temasek Holdings.

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Foodpanda cuts staff in Asia-Pacific amid potential partial sale

They [delivery workers] are not salaried employees and do not get retrenchment benefits if a platform stops operating, Labour MP Yeo Wan Ling said.

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59 workers, including 25 from Yeo’s, to be laid off due to Oatly Singapore plant closure

The Oatly closure may signal wider shifts in the market for plant-based milk.

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NTUC disappointed in Lazada layoffs

It added that FDAWU has contacted Lazada to express its disappointment, and the matter has been escalated to the Ministry of Manpower.

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Singapore's Grab cuts 1,000 jobs, or 11% of workforce

In May, Grab reported a quarterly loss of US$250 million (S$336 million), but said revenue in the first quarter of 2023 rose 130.3 per cent to US$525 million from a year ago.

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Indonesia’s GoTo cuts 1,300 jobs, including in S’pore

The company declined to disclose how many were laid off in Singapore and its latest headcount here.

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Tiger Beer maker retrenches workers in restructuring exercise

“During town halls, employees were also told that the company is doing well and meeting financial targets. Hence, many (workers) cannot reconcile the business performance with the (retrenchment) exercise.”

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Love, Bonito lays off 29 employees globally, including 14 in S’pore

This accounts for 6.9 per cent of the company’s total workforce.

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S’pore edtech start-up Geniebook cuts 3% of staff

They follow two earlier rounds of cuts in 2023, which affected 93 employees, or around 13 per cent of its then headcount of over 700.

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Yahoo laying off staff in S’pore as it shifts to content curation

Yahoo has reportedly let go of its editorial and social media teams in Singapore as it moves towards the curation of content here(2024).

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PMET retrenchments in its longest and most elevated trend since data collection began in 1998

The trend has stayed above 2000 per quarter for roughly two years, recently surging to 2960 for Q4 2024.

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