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Quality of Life in Singapore, Singapore
| Purchasing Power Index | 94.43 | Moderate |
| Safety Index | 83.98 | Very High |
| Health Care Index | 69.40 | High |
| Climate Index | 57.99 | Moderate |
| Cost of Living Index | 88.54 | Moderate |
| Property Price to Income Ratio | 22.21 | Very High |
| Traffic Commute Time Index | 43.12 | Moderate |
| Pollution Index | 33.99 | Low |
| Quality of Life Index: | 151.57 | Very High |
Minimum contributors for an underlying section: 119
Maximum contributors for an underlying section: 627
Last update: May 2018
5 Comments so far
Food in restaurant ranges from cheap to overpriced. Groceries in supermarket is usually more expensive than bought on the markets and difference of price for a same product can be high depending where it is bought. Meat and vegetables are usually imported. Eggs and some transformed products are produced locally.
Public transportation is relatively cheap, especially compared to the price of owning a car. Bus and train tickets are subsidized.
Branded clothes, household appliance, IT products are in average 50 to 100% more expensive than in Europe. Sometimes more. Seldom cheaper.
Average and median salary (for local employees) is slightly higher than the equivalent in Europe but social protection (health insurance, unemployment, retirement) is scarce: Singaporean and permanent resident (PR) are entitled to basic pension and health protection capped to their own contribution. Non-PR foreigners have to rely to private insurance.
Public education system is very good and sets very high standards. Public education is virtually free for Singaporeans but can be expensive for foreigners. University, however, is not free.
The health system is very developed with a high number of hospitals and clinics scattered around the city. Skills of staff and equipment is among the best in the world although medical examination is sometimes not thorough. Singapore is however one the country where some people may have to think twice about their finance before they may undergo some medical procedures.
Pollution levels are very acceptable. Except for the seasonal haze episodes coming from Indonesia that can sometimes be harmful, overall air and water pollution is low. Noise pollution can be a bit high in some areas located near the main roads and highways though. Cleanliness is decent but the city is not overly clean as often misconceived. Public transportation and central areas are usually very clean as well as open spaces and industrial estates. But some residential estates can sometimes be dirty. More due to the lack of respect of some inhabitants than the lack of facilities or maintenance.
The city is very green. With several parks all across the city and trees, plants, grass and other greens virtually everywhere it can fit (including sidewalks, on bridges and even buildings). It's sometimes hard to believe one stand in a city when lost in the middle of the trees even in the central area. For me it plays a lot in contributing to a very high quality of living.
Commuting time is decent enough. Some people may need more than 1 hours to reach their workplace though. Public transportation is relatively inexpensive for a developed country. Taxi is also relatively cheap although prices increased a couple of years ago and peak hours surcharges has been extended to some odd timing (11 PM on a Sunday, hello?). There are lots of bus lines and the number of train lines increases slowly. The network is however not extremely dense. It may be explained because the city is not very densely populated (very high density for a country, average density for a city). There could be a higher offer regarding express bus lines. Some areas geographically close can sometimes take a lot of times to be joined by public transportation. But overall, the service is correct and reliable.
I have lived there 2 years. For expats it is expensive, especially for imported foods, accommodation and medical care. It is also very crowded. Dense condo complexes offer little personal privacy. If you accept a job in singapore as a foreigner, beware that you can't easily change job, as your work permit is tied to your employer. When a contract ends, you will be given 2 weeks to leave the country.
Health care costs are extremely high in sg. I paid 14000 dollars for one night in hospital and a tibia screw operation. Each subsequent x-ray visit cost 200 SGD. Contracts in singapore for foreigners typically have no pension and medical insurance is very limited. Need to consider when negotiating a salary. Working hours tend to be quite long.
Changi airport is convenient for visiting nearby countries. Good selection of sea food. Night life is vibrant, but it will cost you a small fortune. Taxis are reasonable in price, but increase at peak times.
You will likely never be able to afford a car in singapore, unless you are extremely rich.
Nearly all food in singapore is imported. Milk from Australia, potatoes from the USA, water from Europe etc. This makes the food quite expensive (asian food is cheap). This means, not many vegetables and fruits are fresh.
The tap water in singapore is recycled NEWATER. where I stayed it had a brown tinge to it. I suspect it depends where u live.
Aircon and electric bills can be expensive, especially if your home does not have a good breeze.
Singapore is flat. There are no hills. The climate is hot and humid all year round. At first it's nice, but eventually you get sick of it. Every day and every night are 12 hours.
First of all, being a Singaporean, I would like to clarify that Singapore has a much better quality of life than this.
And just because we are located on the equator, we have a negative point on climate. Great.
Singaporeans enjoy excellent heatchcare, schooling, and is a very safe city-state. 100% of the population live in urban areas and there is virtually NO proverty in the country.
I am proud to be a Singaporean.