The Republic of Singapore is a sovereign island city-state near the Malay Peninsula’s southern tip found in maritime Southeast Asia.

In addition to the main island, Singapore is comprised of 63 satellite islands or islets plus one outlying islet. Singapore has the world’s third highest population density after Macau and Monaco.

Home to 5.8 million residents, Singapore is nicknamed The Garden City reflecting its tree-lined streets and lush parks.

One of its 4 official languages, English is Singapore’s main business language which facilitates the Southeast Asian nation’s role as an international trade hub.

Despite its relatively small population, Singapore has the world’s 38th wealthiest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis, producing $600.1 billion worth of products and services as of April 2021.

Singapore’s demand for imported goods represents a subtotal US$123.9 billion worth of Singaporean spending on the 100 most valuable consumer products imported into the Southeast Asian city-state during 2020.

That consumer-driven dollar amount represents well over a third (37.7%) of the overall value of all goods imported into Singapore. International spending on all Singaporean imports, including raw materials, intermediate products and semi-finished goods, totaled $328.8 billion in 2020.

Singapore’s most valuable consumer products in 2020 are: refined petroleum oils; gold; phone devices including smartphones; computers; and computer parts or accessories.

Spending on Singapore’s top 100 imported consumer products fell by -8.4% from 2019 to 2020. Singapore’s top 100 consumer metric mirrored the -8.4% downtick for all of Singapore’s imported goods over the latest annual period.

The deceleration in Singaporean spending for imported consumer products was roughly the same as the global average from 2019 to 2020, which was an average drop of -8.2% for all importing countries around the world.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Singapore, 37 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas 63 declined.

Changes in Singaporean consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Singapore’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Singapore spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Processed petroleum oils: US$31,253,392,000 (down -31.9%)
Medications: $1,786,828,000 (up 12.2%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $1,461,750,000 (down -12.5%)
Cars: $1,121,787,000 (down -45%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $953,988,000 (down -6.8%)
Other food preparations: $692,359,000 (up 8.8%)
Perfumes, toilet waters: $650,668,000 (down -22.7%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $545,596,000 (down -7.2%)
Wine: $540,614,000 (down -13%)
Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: $535,761,000 (down -33.3%)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $502,455,000 (down -7.5%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk: $364,552,000 (up 3.5%)
Swine meat: $311,564,000 (up 29.4%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $309,560,000 (up 2%)
Rice: $299,205,000 (up 25.4%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $282,189,000 (up 10.9%)
Poultry meat: $280,370,000 (up 8.1%)
Provitamins, vitamins: $270,698,000 (down -3.1%)
Cocoa beans: $227,346,000 (up 5.1%)
Waters with added sugar: $220,873,000 (down -12.5%)
Other fresh/chilled vegetables: $206,757,000 (up 7.8%)
Other meats (preserved/prepared): $184,170,000 (up 11.9%)
Tissues, napkins, toilet paper: $178,054,000 (up 39.2%)
Chocolate, other cocoa preparations: $175,218,000 (down -29.6%)
Sauces, mixed condiments, seasoning: $168,742,000 (up 6.3%)
Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry): $165,264,000 (down -10.1%)
Crustaceans (including lobsters): $160,052,000 (down -20.5%)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $151,663,000 (up 29.5%)
Miscellaneous fruits (fresh): $147,170,000 (up 12.2%)
Whole fish (fresh): $138,896,000 (down -0.1%)
Eggs in shell (bird): $135,768,000 (down -7.8%)
Frozen beef: $133,155,000 (up 15.4%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the Asian country’s second-most popular import product type attracting Singapore’s international spending behind shopping products but ahead of speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Singapore’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Singapore spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Singaporean spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Phones: US$11,649,991,000 (up 2.9%)
Computers, optical readers: $8,058,609,000 (up 10.8%)
Computer parts, accessories: $5,379,992,000 (down -6.4%)
Printing machinery: $3,392,286,000 (up 11.5%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $2,206,928,000 (down -5.7%)
Unrecorded sound media: $1,897,535,000 (up 21.8%)
Electrical converters/power units: $1,718,779,000 (up 1.4%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $1,579,976,000 (down -20.6%)
Insulated wire/cable: $1,448,783,000 (down -7.1%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $1,448,479,000 (down -20.6%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $1,026,357,000 (up 1434%)
Wrist/pocket watches (precious case): $783,745,000 (down -20.2%)
Orthopedic appliances: $745,490,000 (down -15.4%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $686,420,000 (up 7.2%)
Miscellaneous glass items: $666,410,000 (up 16.3%)
Wrist/pocket watches (regular case): $628,867,000 (down -29.4%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $543,782,000 (down -14.3%)
Microphones/headphones/amps: $511,626,000 (down -14%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $382,249,000 (down -15.7%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $360,365,000 (down -12.1%)
Miscellaneous precious metal items: $355,256,000 (up 91.2%)
Other pharmaceutical preparations: $337,098,000 (down -1.5%)
Miscellaneous aluminum items: $325,893,000 (up 5.4%)
Primary batteries/cells: $325,170,000 (down -2.7%)
Felt, other non-woven garments: $324,585,000 (up 1,070%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $292,069,000 (down -10.2%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $277,721,000 (down -33%)
Footwear (leather): $235,458,000 (down -31.6%)
Soap, organic surface-active goods: $227,983,000 (up 23.8%)
Footwear (textile): $210,370,000 (down -22.1%)
Rubber tires (new): $207,914,000 (down -22.1%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $202,473,000 (down -30.2%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $201,646,000 (up 93.3%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $201,198,000 (down -3.8%)
Trucks: $198,079,000 (down -44.2%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $194,945,000 (down -33.6%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $185,568,000 (down -25.2%)
Shaving preparations, deodorants: $179,278,000 (down -9.3%)
Paints, varnishes: $170,711,000 (down -17.9%)
Video console games, table games: $163,395,000 (down -30.7%)
Miscellaneous toys: $153,994,000 (down -25.2%)
Sportswear (unknit/non-crochet): $147,695,000 (up 114.3%)
Printed books, brochures: $144,805,000 (down -26.7%)
Hair preparations: $143,418,000 (down -2.9%)
Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $142,973,000 (down -19.9%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $140,526,000 (down -16.8%)
Lubricant preparations, anti-rust: $135,086,000 (down -15.2%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $134,504,000 (down -28.7%)
Sports equipment: $133,637,000 (down -17.8%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Singapore’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products represent almost half (49) of the overall top 100 Singaporean imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Singapore’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Singapore’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Gold (unwrought): US$16,636,743,000 (up 64.8%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $2,894,321,000 (down -10%)
Jewelry: $2,141,056,000 (down -29.2%)
Diamonds (unmounted/unset): $876,521,000 (down -25.9%)
Electric storage batteries: $736,323,000 (down -1.2%)
Liquid pumps: $690,543,000 (down -12.8%)
Temperature-change machines: $603,113,000 (up 13.7%)
Air conditioners: $442,882,000 (down -15.9%)
Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools: $407,752,000 (up 3.6%)
Compasses, other navigational aids: $398,319,000 (down -19.6%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $389,176,000 (down -7.3%)
Silver (unwrought): $387,745,000 (up 29%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $356,758,000 (up 6%)
Special hand/machine tools: $314,511,000 (up 17.5%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $251,851,000 (down -34.9%)
Hand-drawn paintings, drawings: $205,245,000 (down -26.5%)
Sewing machines, related furniture: $152,146,000 (down -49%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines: $135,317,000 (up 0.3%)
Household base metal mountings: $133,186,000 (down -25.5%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 68 of Singapore’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 32 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Singapore’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Singapore that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Miscellaneous textile items: Up 1,434% (US$1.03 billion)
Felt, other non-woven garments: Up 1,070% ($324.6 million)
Unknitted and non-crocheted sportswear: Up 114.3% ($147.7 million)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: Up 93.3% ($201.6 million)
Miscellaneous precious metal items: Up 91.2% ($355.3 million)
Gold: Up 64.8% ($16.6 billion)
Tissues, napkins, toilet paper: Up 39.2% ($178.1 million)
Preserved or prepared fish including caviar: Up 29.5% ($151.7 million)
Swine meat: Up 29.4% ($311.6 million)
Silver: Up 29% ($387.7 million)

Two among the above top 10 gainers are speciality products and therefore also durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. This duo of fastest-growing speciality products in demand by importers in Singapore are unwrought gold and unwrought silver.

The 5 fastest-growing shopping products are: miscellaneous textile items; garments made from felt or other non-woven materials; unknitted and non-crocheted sportswear; packaged insecticides or herbicides; and miscellaneous items made from or with precious metals.

Three non-durable imported consumer products that lead in sales growth are: tissues, napkins and toilet paper; preserved or prepared fish including caviar; and swine meat.

Singapore’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Singapore on the following 10 items decreased in value by the highest percentages from 2019 to 2020.

Sewing machines, related furniture: Down -49% ($152.1 million)
Cars: Down -45% ($1.1 billion)
Trucks: Down -44.2% ($198.1 million)
Electric generating sets, converters: Down -34.9% ($251.9 million)
Seats (excluding barber or dentist chairs): Down -33.6% ($194.9 million)
Cigars, cigarillos, cigarettes: Down -33.3% ($535.8 million)
Items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel: Down -33% ($277.7 million)
Processed petroleum oils: Down -31.9% ($31.9 billion)
Leather footwear: Down -31.6% ($235.5 million)
Video console games, table games: Down -30.7% ($163.4 million)

Six categories among Singaporean top 10 severest decliners are durable shopping products used over a period of time. The worst slippage among those categories was for Singapore’s imported cars, trucks, seats, and items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel.

The strongest declines for the 2 durable speciality goods belong to sewing machines plus related furniture, and electric generating sets or converters.

There were 2 non-durable consumer products among Singapore’s 10 major import decliners from 2019 to 2020, namely cigars, cigarillos or cigarettes, and processed petroleum oils.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Singapore’s top consumer import products.

Singapore’s biggest imported consumer product by value is processed petroleum oils. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Singapore are gold, phone devices including smartphones, computers, and computer parts or accessories.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Singapore’s imported:

Processed petroleum oils: Malaysia (26.1% of total), China (15.8%), India (6.7%), South Korea (5.5%), United Arab Emirates (5.1%), Iraq (4.6%), Russia (3.7%), Brazil (3.4%), Saudi Arabia (3%), and Japan (2.1%).

Gold: Thailand (17.2% of total), Indonesia (13.7%), Cambodia (13.3%), Switzerland (12.7%), Hong Kong (12.3%), Japan (11.2%), Australia (6%), South Korea (3.2%), China (2.7%), and United States (2.4%).

Phone devices including smartphones: China (64.8% of total), Malaysia (9.4%), Indonesia (4.4%), United States (3.4%), Vietnam (2.8%), Hong Kong (2.4%), Mexico (2.1%), Taiwan (1.7%), Thailand (1.6%), and Czech Republic (1.4%).

Computers: China (58.5% of total), Malaysia (8.1%), Thailand (7.1%), United States (7.1%), Netherlands (3.5%), Mexico (3.2%), Taiwan (2.4%), Indonesia (1.9%), Philippines (1.5%), and Japan (0.9%).

Computer parts or accessories: China (32.2% of total), Malaysia (29%), Taiwan (20.8%), Indonesia (2.8%), United States (2.7%), South Korea (also 2.7%), Vietnam (1.7%), Thailand (also 1.7%), Philippines (1.1%), and Mexico (0.9%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Singapore Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Singapore Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Singapore.

World’s Top Exports, Singapore’s Top 10 Imports.