Overview
- Core inflation, which excludes housing and private transport, eased to 1.4% in April after two months of rises and rose 0.2% from March while overall CPI-All Items was unchanged at 1.8%.
- Private transport inflation jumped to 8.1% in April because petrol and car prices rose more sharply, and accommodation inflation edged up to 0.4% as rents increased.
- Services inflation fell to 1.5% from 2.1% driven by smaller health insurance increases and lower telecom prices, and retail and other goods inflation slowed to 1.5% as water price inflation eased.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry kept their 2026 average inflation forecast at 1.5–2.5% and flagged that higher energy and input costs from the Middle East pose a clear upside risk to imported inflation.
- Officials expect nominal wage growth and services unit labour costs to moderate and warned that more cautious consumer spending could reduce domestic price pressures, but Singapore’s heavy reliance on imported energy and intermediate goods means external shocks can quickly change the trajectory.