Singapore Core Inflation Drops to 4-Year Low of 0.5% in March

Analysts See More Downward Pressure as Global Demand Falls on Trade Uncertainty

- Timothy Goh

Singapore's core inflation dropped for a sixth consecutive month with weaker global demand from trade uncertainty and US tariffs seen putting more downward pressure on consumer prices.

Most spending categories saw smaller year-on-year price increases, while prices fell for two categories—electricity and gas, and retail and other goods—the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a joint report on April 23.

Core inflation, which excludes private transport and accommodation costs to better reflect the expenses of households here, eased to 0.5 per cent year on year, from 0.6 per cent in February.

This is the lowest for the key inflation gauge since March 2021. It also came in lower than a Bloomberg poll forecast of 0.7 per cent.

Overall—or headline—inflation remained unchanged at 0.9 per cent year on year in March, due to higher private transport inflation which offset the fall in core inflation.

But the figure also came in lower than the 1.1 per cent forecast in the Bloomberg poll.

MAS and MTI said Singapore's imported inflation is expected to remain moderate.

"Although the escalation in trade conflicts could be inflationary for some economies, their impact on Singapore's import prices is likely to be more than offset by the disinflationary drags exerted by weaker global demand," they said.

Notably, while they kept to recently lowered 2025 inflation forecasts, they said: "The risks to inflation are tilted towards the downside, given heightened uncertainties in the external environment."