Singapore’s annual inflation rate held at 1.8% in April 2026, unchanged from March but below market expectations of 2%. It was still the highest rate since September 2024, driven mainly by a further rise in transport costs, which accelerated to 7% from 6% in the previous month. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continued to push up global oil prices and severely disrupt energy supply chains, feeding through to higher transport prices.
There were also modest price increases in several categories: clothing and footwear (1% vs 0.9%), household durables and services (1.1% vs 0.9%), and miscellaneous goods and services (1.7% vs 1.5%). By contrast, food inflation was stable at 1.6%, while price growth eased for housing and utilities (0.2% vs 0.3%) and healthcare (3.1% vs 4.0%).
On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices fell 0.3% in April, reversing the 0.5% increase recorded in March. Meanwhile, core inflation—which excludes accommodation and private transport costs—slowed to 1.4% from 1.7% in March, also undershooting market expectations of 1.7%.
