Singapore: do households expect finances to improve or worsen in 2023?

In January, our article on APAC’s top New Year Resolutions for 2023 revealed that over half of APAC’s consumers (54%) say that better money management is on their list of goals for this year.

In this article, we explore what residents in Singapore think about the state of their household finances – how do perceptions vary across income levels?

Additionally, do Singapore’s residents generally expect their household finances to get better or worse over the next 12 months? And how bullish or bearish are workers from specific sectors, like real estate or retail, about their future finances?

Are household finances in Singapore getting better or worse?

Latest data from YouGov Profiles, as of February 2023, show that three in five (60%) Singapore residents say there has been no change in their household finances compared to one month ago. Data from YouGov Profiles reflect cumulative responses over the past 52 weeks.

One in five (21%), however, report worsening household finances. Just one in eight (13%) say their financial situation has improved compared to the month before.

Regionally, Singapore and Hong Kong have a relatively high percentage of residents who report no change in their household finances – compared to other APAC markets like Australia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Analysing by income levels reveals that higher income households are more likely to report that their financial situation has improved (5-9 percentage points higher on average than middle to lower income households) or held steady (4-9 points higher on average than middle to lower income households) for this year to date. The reverse is also true: lower income households are more likely to report a worsening financial situation (7-14 points higher on average than middle to higher income households).

Given that elevated inflation rates are expected to persist for at least the first half of 2023, it’s not surprising that lower income households with smaller disposable incomes are more likely to feel the pinch.

Do Singapore households expect their finances to improve or worsen over the next 12 months?

When asked how they anticipate their household finances to change over the next 12 months, just under two in five (38%) Singapore residents expect their situation to remain the same. Around one in five (19%) expect their household finances to worsen, but a larger proportion of over a quarter (28%) expect their situation to improve.

Analysing by generation reveals that younger consumers tend to be more optimistic about their household finances in the next 12 months than older consumers.

Just under two in five Gen Z (37%) and Millennials (38%) expecting their situation to get better, compared to about a quarter of Gen X (26%) and a seventh of Baby Boomers (14%). Additionally, almost a quarter of Gen X (23%) and Baby Boomers (24%) expect their household finances to worsen over the coming year, compared to just 16% of Millennials and 9% of Gen Z.

In which sectors are respondents most bullish and bearish about their household finances in the next 12 months?

Singapore residents who work in Media / Marketing / Advertising / PR & Sales, Retail and Construction are most optimistic about their household finances in the next 12 months, with over a third expecting them to improve.

On the other hand, those employed in the Legal, Manufacturing, Education, Financial Services and Transport & Distribution sectors are most pessimistic, with over a fifth expecting their household finances to get worse in the next 12 months.

Respondents from the Real Estate sector were most divided: the proportion who expect their financial situation to improve (38%) and worsen (23%) over the next 12 months were both among the highest across industries.

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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for Singapore is nationally representative of all adults (18 years or older), weighted by age, gender, and ethnicity, and reflect the latest Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) estimates. Learn more about Profiles.