Singapore Core Inflation Rises to 2.0% in July Driven by Electricity and Transport Costs

Singapore, 24 August 2026 – Singapore’s consumer price dynamics experienced a modest acceleration in July as the official core inflation rate, which excludes private transport and accommodation to better reflect underlying household price pressures, rose to 2.0% year-on-year from 1.6% in June. Jointly released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), the macroeconomic data demonstrated that while higher regulated utility tariffs and services contributed to the price uptick, the print came in comfortably below institutional market consensus expectations of 2.2%, indicating that domestic price stability remains well contained.

The headline all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) similarly registered a moderate increase, expanding to 2.2% year-on-year in July compared to 1.9% recorded in June, also undershooting private-sector economist forecasts of 2.4%. The primary catalyst behind the core inflation movement was a sharp 17% quarterly adjustment in regulated electricity and gas tariffs, which alone contributed approximately 0.3 percentage points to the aggregate core index. In parallel, services inflation inched higher to 1.7% from 1.5% in the prior month, while food inflation experienced a minor increase to 2.2% from 2.1%, driven by higher prices for prepared meals and imported agricultural staples.