Find out how people pay in Singapore

Singapore

General Information

Population 5.9m
Population 15 + 5.1m
Online Population 5.3m
Area 728.6 km²
Currency SGD
GDP 340.0bn USD
GDP per Capita 58,902 USD

Card-based payments
Cash-based payments
Bank transfer
Wallets
Other

[{"label":"Card-based payments","value":"61"},{"label":"Cash-based payments","value":"1"},{"label":"Bank transfer","value":"12"},{"label":"Wallets","value":"20"},{"label":"Other","value":"6"}]

Banked population

Singapore 98%
Asia Pacific 71%
World 67%

Credit card penetration

Singapore 49%
Asia Pacific 13%
World 19%

Internet penetration

Singapore 90%
Asia Pacific 60%
World 62%

Smartphone penetration

Singapore 87%
Asia Pacific 71%
World 70%

Singapore’s e-commerce is mostly driven by the segment of the population aged 25-34 who make up 34.3% of online users. And 54% of consumers use their mobile to shop online.

Shopee is the most popular e-commerce site in 2020 with 10.88 m monthly visits. Next is Lazada with 8.5 m monthly visits and Qoo10 with 7.5 m.

Singapore has plans to become the e-commerce hub for South East Asia and to do that the government is investing in two 5G networks in the city-state and has partnered with Google to build tech skills among the populace.

Singapore’s economy dropped by 5.4% in 2020 but is forecast to grow by 5.2% in 2021 and 3.2% in 2022 according to the IMF. Inflation also dipped in 2020 by 0.2% but is expected to rise by 0.2% in 2021 and 0.8% in 2022.

Future e-commerce trends (2021-2025)

E-Commerce market size forecast ($US billion)

2021 5.9

2022 7.0

2023 8.2

2024 9.4

2025 10.7

E-Commerce spending per capita ($US)

2021 1026

2022 1203

2023 1402

2024 1607

2025 1813

E-Commerce spending as % of GDP

2021 1.6

2022 1.8

2023 2.0

2024 2.3

2025 2.5

Singapore

The E-Commerce Market

Top e-commerce segments 2019 | 2020

Airlines & Hotels: 65% | 46%
Food & Drink: 1% | 12%
Electrical Goods: 23% | 12%
Health & Beauty: 4% | 11%
Homeware & Furniture: 2% | 10%

Cross-border e-commerce

Cross-border proportion of total e-commerce – 44%
Value of cross-border e-commerce ($US billion) – 2.4
% of online shoppers who have shopped cross-border – 73%

Top 3 cross-border shopping origin markets

China: 43%
USA: 20%
South Korea: 8%

E-commerce % of total retail

Singapore 6%
Asia Pacific 23.8%
World 20%

E-commerce completed on a mobile device

Singapore 57%
Asia Pacific 59%
World 53%

The Credit Card Split

Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Local Schemes
Other

[{"label":"Visa","value":"28"},{"label":"Mastercard","value":"17"},{"label":"American Express","value":"3"},{"label":"Local Schemes","value":"50"},{"label":"Other","value":"2"}]

E-commerce market size ($US billion) 5.5bn USD
E-Commerce spending per capita ($US) 964 USD
E-commerce spending as % of GDP 1.6%

_{The information on our Insights pages has been compiled by us in cooperation with Datamatics and Wright & Brown. The data shown is partially owned by us and partially owned by GlobalData. © 2021 by PPRO Financial Ltd. No data and information can be used for any further publication without the explicit approval of PPRO.}

Singapore

Local Payment Methods

BitPay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 eNETS

Type Bank transfer Regions Asia Pacific Market relevance High GoPay (by Gojek)

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific GrabPay

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific Market relevance High Hyperwallet

Type Bank transfer, Gift card, Prepaid voucher Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High PayPal

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Paysera Wallet

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High Skrill

Type Wallet Regions Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe & the CIS, Middle East & Africa + 3 Market relevance High 123