Singapore regularly auctions a fixed number of “certificates of entitlement” allowing car ownership for 10 years, which helps limit the number of vehicles on the road to about 1 million.
Singapore has a population of 6.1 million people and the city-state can be traversed by car in less than an hour. These auctions have made Singapore the most expensive city in the world to buy a car.
Certificates prices for small vehicles, or those with engine capacity below 1.6 liters, have quadrupled from pre-pandemic levels to an all-time high following the latest auction on Wednesday, with no signs of abating.
Cars pass along a road in Singapore on June 1, 2026. Photo by AFP |
The price of a certificate alone is now equivalent to the cost to buying four Toyota Corollas in the U.S. The same vehicle in Singapore, with the certificate, registration fees and taxes, would cost S$179,888 (US$139,000).
By comparison, the median annual household salary in the city-state is S$149,352, while a small, government-subsidized flat costs upwards of S$139,000.
In October 2023, when certificates for larger cars crossed the US$100,000 mark, those for smaller cars were about US$77,500. Prices have steadily risen from US$78,844 at the first auction of this year.
Many carmakers detune engines of popular models for the Singapore market so their cars qualify for the cheaper certificate.
Answering parliamentary questions in May about the rising prices, Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow said demand remained strong due to competitive electric car prices, while the availability of smaller vehicle certificates at auctions was declining.
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