Singapore experienced an unexpected acceleration in inflation during December, largely driven by a mild uptick in core consumer prices and higher transportation costs, according to the Department of Statistics.
The country’s consumer-price index saw a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year, surpassing the 3.6% rise recorded in November and exceeding the median estimate of a 3.5% increase in a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.
Transportation costs, which carry a significant index weighting of 17.07%, rose by 3.9% in December year-on-year, outpacing November’s 2.8% increase. Housing and utilities costs, accounting for 24.84% of the index, saw a 3.8% increase, matching the previous month’s rise. Meanwhile, food prices, with a weighting of 21.10%, rose by 3.7%, showing a slight slowdown from November’s 4.0% increase.
When excluding private road transport and accommodation costs, the core consumer-price index (CPI) showed a 3.3% rise in December compared to the previous year. This represented an improvement from the 3.2% increase in November and was higher than the median estimate of 3.0% predicted in a Wall Street Journal survey of economists.
Looking ahead, for the year 2023, the headline inflation rate stood at 4.8%, while core inflation was recorded at 4.2%.
Overall, Singapore’s unexpected inflation uptick in December indicates a rise in core consumer prices and transportation costs. This data suggests potential implications for both businesses and consumers throughout various sectors of the economy moving forward.