Atiqah Mokhtar Published on Fri, Jul 23, 2021
The consumer price index (CPI) for general households increased by 1.5% y-o-y for the first half of the year, according to data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics (Singstat) on July 23.
This was partly due to low base effects as CPI had fallen by 0.2% y-o-y in the same period last year.
By household income groups, the CPI rose by 0.9%, 1.4% and 1.9% y-o-y for the lowest 20%, middle 60% and highest 20% income groups respectively.
Excluding imputed rentals on owner-occupied accommodation (OOA), the CPI for the lowest 20%, middle 60% and highest 20% income groups increased by 0.8%, 1.4 % and 2.2 % y-o-y respectively.
The main positive contributors to the CPI inflation rates of the three income groups were cars, food, petrol, accommodation and tuition & other fees.
The price increases for these items were partially offset by the lower costs of electricity and clothing & footwear.
The lowest 20% income group saw the smallest increase in its CPI excluding OOA as compared to the middle 60% and highest 20% income groups mainly because lower costs of electricity had a larger dampening impact on its CPI as electricity constituted a higher share of its expenditure basket.
In addition, higher car and petrol prices had a smaller impact on its CPI given that these items accounted for a smaller share of its expenditure basket.
Photo: Bloomberg