Consumer products often cost more in Singapore: MAS, MTI

Items from Apple, IKEA and Zara often cost more in Singapore than in 10 other major cities, according to a consumer products price comparison study jointly commissioned by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The study found that two-thirds of the 647 items sampled from the three brands are priced here above the median, but Singapore is the most expensive city for only 6 per cent of these. About a quarter of the products here are priced below the median. The other ten cities in the survey are Paris, London, Shanghai, New York, Taipei, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Sydney and Tokyo.

“Prices of many internationally branded goods differ across geographical areas, even though these goods are exactly the same in many instances. Anecdotal evidence suggests that prices of some of these products are higher in Singapore compared to other countries,” MAS and MTI said in the Macroeconomic Review report released yesterday.

The study seeks to shed more light on why certain products are priced higher in Singapore than elsewhere. The three brands were selected as they have a “large number of identical products” in these cities. MAS and MTI found that operating costs and demand factors influenced companies’ pricing decisions to a large extent.

UOB economist Francis Tan said: “I’m not surprised that many of the products are more expensive in Singapore. This is because the cost of doing business here is higher, be it from the labour perspective or rentals.”

MAS noted in its report that the study does not represent the overall cost of living here as the analysis involved only three brands. However, Mr Tan said that if the observation is true for retail items in general, tourists will find Singapore increasingly out of reach, especially with the rising currency. Lee Yen Nee