XpatXperience - Price of food in Singapore

If you are coming to Singapore and already have a contract, or are discussing one, the ‘cost of living’ or ‘price index’ is probably a good indicator you should keep in mind when you are negotiating your salary. The Price Index is the ratio between the ‘costs’ in home country currency of a basket of goods and services between the home country and, in this case, Singapore. A value of 110 meaning that that basket will cost 10% more in the new place (a little more on that in the financial > expat section).

These baskets are established and compared by specialized companies and can include anything from a carton of milk to an insurance. Generally, they are useful indicators for your negotiation, but the number does not actually tell you how much that carton of milk costs of course, and that’s where we come in. The list below includes some common household goods and their price in Singapore Dollars, on the date indicated, at a regular supermarket somewhere in Singapore (more on supermarkets here). Since most goods are imported, price ranges can be wide. We are not bargain hunting here, nor are we taking the top-of-the-line, these are normal prices. Please note that in Singapore, all taxes are included in the prices shown in the supermarkets and stores (not so in restaurants!).

Your Daily Bread - 08 October 2011
Item	Price in S$	Brand / Remarks
Apples, Granny Smith / pc	0.40
Bananas, 100 gr	0.15
Beer (lager), 1 can 0.3 l	2.55	Tiger (Singaporean)
Bread, 1 loaf wholemeal 420 gr	2.00	Gardenia ('American' style)
Bread, 1 loaf wholemeal	2.50	'European' style (uncut)
Butter, 250 gr	5.95	(Denmark)
Carrots 0.5 kg	0.95	Australia
Cereal, 150 gr	3.10	Nestle Honey Stars
Cornflakes 275 gr	3.80	Nestle
Cheese, Processed 12 slice (250 gr)	5.95	Kraft
Cheese, 100 gr Edam aged	3.25
Coffee, ground 200 gram	7.95	Espresso grind
Eggs, 10 pc	3.65	'omega 3'
Fish, Salmon filet / kg	33.90
Jam, blackcurrant 500 gr	3.62	IXL
Mango /100 gr	0.66
Margarine, 500 gr	3.90	MeadowLea
Milk, 1 liter fresh	2.95	Farmhouse (Australia)
Olive Oil, 0.5 l	10.10	Bertolli
Orange Juice, 1 liter	2.60	MariGold
Peanut Butter, 500 gr	5.75	Skippy
onion - 700gr	1.25
Potatoes, 2.27 kg	3.40	USA
Rice, fragrant Thai 5 kg	11.50	bigger bags cheaper
Salad, iceberg / pc	1.50	USA
Steak, striploin / kg	26.90	Australian
Suger - caster 800gr	2.65
Tomatoes 100 gr	0.14	Malaysian
Water, 1.5 l	0.97	Ice Mountain
Keep it Clean - 12 January 2008
Dishwashing detergent 50 tablets	11.00	Somat
Laundry detergent 3 kg	9.45	Fab

For those who like the Economist's 'Burgernomics' approach (the way to value a country's currency based on a standard product i.e. a Big Mac) I prefer their Starbucks Latte comparison, because that's where this is typed; a Grande Latte (the middle size) cost S$6.00 in October 2011.

Lastly you may want to look at the various online shopping options. Online with delivery tends to be a bit more expensive but it is an indication:

www.egrocy.com
Cold Storage
Carrefour

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