As Singapore food and rent costs soar, can hawkers bear the ‘pain’ for much longer?

Researchers found that hawkers who tried to keep going often sought to ‘keep their prices the same’ despite financial pressures

Study comes amid debate on how Singapore will navigate higher cost of living, driven by factors like inflation, pandemic, supply chain disruptions, war in Ukraine

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A hawker centre in Singapore. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:11pm, 13 Mar 2023Updated: 7:53pm, 13 Mar 2023

The owners of Singapore’s iconic hawker stalls have struggled to accommodate customers’ expectations of low prices amid significant increases in rent and food costs in the city state, according to an extensive study on the cost of eating out.

“The pain of having to deal with the inflation of both rental and ingredient prices was felt not only by stall owners who had to close their businesses, but also by stall owners whose businesses were still in operation,” the report stated.

Researchers for The Makan Index 2.0 study, carried out by the government-linked Institute of Policy Studies, found that owners who tried to keep going “often sought to justify the prices of their food” and “took pride in keeping their prices the same despite the inflationary pressures threatening many food stall owners’ income and job security”.

Customers in a food court in Singapore. Photo: Bloomberg

The study looked at various issues, including how the price of local favourites like chicken rice and wonton noodles differed across neighbourhoods, the average cost of eating out, and how food and drink prices have changed.

Conducted in two rounds of fieldwork between September and November last year and January and February this year, the team investigated 829 establishments, made up of hawker centres, food courts and kopitiams (traditional coffee shops).

Meals at these places accounted for more than half of households’ food expenditure, according to another study cited, the Household Expenditure Survey.

The new findings come amid fervent debate on how Singapore will navigate the higher cost of living, after core inflation rose by 5.5 per cent in January, the fastest in 14 years, exceeding December’s 5.1 per cent.