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<\/p>\nSINGAPORE \u2013 Shoppers in Singapore may be paying the same \u2013 or more \u2013 for less when it comes to items such as instant coffee or tea, as well as cereal and juices, according to the Department of Statistics (SingStat). <\/p>\n
This is known as \u201cshrinkflation\u201d. It occurs when a product\u2019s size or quantity is reduced, but the price stays the same or increases, so consumers effectively pay more per unit. This practice results in hidden price changes. <\/p>\n
An analysis by SingStat on barcode data from major supermarkets found that, overall, less than 5 per cent of items commonly purchased by resident households here were hit by shrinkflation in 2025.<\/p>\n
Among these, five fast-moving consumer goods were most affected by shrinkflation, based on how often size reductions were observed across the supermarkets. <\/p>\n
The products are instant coffee or tea, laundry detergent, ice cream, milk powder and diapers, said SingStat, which released the findings in a newsletter on April 29. <\/p>\n
SingStat regularly monitors some 3,000 products for the compilation of the monthly consumer price index (CPI).<\/p>\n
Similar findings were observed internationally, it noted. <\/p>\n
In Britain, the majority of products linked to shrinkflation were food products, with 1 per cent to 2 per cent of such products shrinking in size.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SingStat added that in the US, shrinkflation was primarily observed in categories such as snacks, coffee, tea and diapers, in addition to household paper products.<\/p>\n
However, it could take some effort for shoppers to detect shrinkflation. <\/p>\n
Consumers who spoke to The Straits Times said they do not usually bother to find out the price per unit, which is a way of spotting shrinkflation. <\/p>\n
Ms Suriati, an art teacher in her 50s, bases some of her purchase decisions on the price tag she sees on the product. For example, she used to buy Dynamo detergent, but at $18 per bottle, she found it too expensive and switched to Persil, which costs $5 less.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For other products, though, price is not her deciding factor, she said. <\/p>\n
When it comes to cooking staples, such as extra virgin olive oil and rice bran oil, Ms Suriati said she will not look for alternatives and will keep buying the same brands even if prices rise. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr Ang Jian Hui, a marketing manager in his 40s, said he does not actively watch for shrinkflation when shopping. <\/p>\n
However, he is quick to switch brands if the final price of a product that he regularly buys goes up.\u00a0\u201cI am not very loyal,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Similarly, Mr Leong Meng Sun, a civil engineer in his 50s, will consider cheaper brands or search online for more value for his buck if the product gets too expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man in the street won\u2019t bother about the percentage that a product has shrunk by,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cYou cannot avoid buying those products just because they are affected by shrinkflation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Sam Chang, in his 40s, noted that consumers will just have to cope with shrinkflation by stretching the value of their spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stick to a certain brand for a laundry detergent, which is effective and friendly to the washer,\u201d said the co-founder of financial board game design studio, Capital Gains Studio, adding that \u201cI get more of it during store promotions\u201d.<\/p>\n
A common form of shrinkflation is when the product\u2019s price remains the same but the quantity is reduced. <\/p>\n
Take a 1-litre bottle of shampoo priced at $8.<\/p>\n
If the manufacturer reduces the bottle size to 0.8 litre but keeps the price at $8, that same bottle of shampoo will now cost $10 per litre.<\/p>\n
This is an increase of 25 per cent in the unit price, even though the price tag did not change.<\/p>\n
Another form of shrinkflation is where the price goes up and the quantity of the product is reduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Again, take a 1-litre bottle of shampoo that costs $8. But this time, the manufacturer cuts the bottle size to 0.8 litre and raises the price to $10. The shampoo now costs $10 for 0.8 litre or $12.50 per litre. Compared with the original $8 per litre, this would be a 56 per cent increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Singapore University of Social Sciences economist Walter Theseira said shrinkflation will show up in products where there is no concept of a standard quantity or size.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, manufacturers can get away with reducing package sizes of a packet of biscuits or a tub of ice cream because \u201cthere is no common agreement on what unit it needs to be sold in, 500g versus 450g\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
However, they will not be able to shrinkflate a pack of rice because people expect to buy a 1kg or 5kg pack of rice, he added.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamental purpose is to disguise price increases,\u201d Associate Professor Theseira noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He added that there are other ways that manufacturers try to hide price increases, such as by offering consumers a lower-quality product.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many chocolate products, there has been a reduction in the cocoa content,\u201d he said, adding that \u201ccocoa is the expensive ingredient\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is to substitute the expensive component with cheaper ingredients,\u201d Prof Theseira noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SingStat\u2019s analysis highlighted another example where manufacturers change their packaging to offer more of a product and raise the price at the same time.<\/p>\n
It cited a package of cereal that weighs 0.4kg and costs $5, which translates to $12.50 per kg. After the update, the new cereal package weighs 0.42kg and costs $6, which comes to $14.29 per kg. <\/p>\n
Consumers get 5 per cent more cereal content, but pay 14 per cent more per kg, SingStat noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prof Theseira said this practice is a manufacturer\u2019s response to a long chain of shrinkflation, adding: \u201cHow long can you keep up this whole practice of cutting portion size? You cannot do this forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hence, manufacturers change the packaging to offer larger sizes or greater quantities at higher prices instead. <\/p>\n
But they are just \u201cplaying games\u201d with the packaging, he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To help consumers compare the prices of products easily across different brands and package sizes, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore and Consumers Association of Singapore partnered with major supermarket chains to pilot the display of unit prices from Sept 1, 2025.<\/p>\n
This initiative covers grocery products such as rice, meat, milk powder, eggs, detergent and tissue paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unit pricing is adopted in places such as Australia, the European Union and Britain, SingStat noted.<\/p>\n
Based on ST checks at a major supermarket chain in Yishun on April 29, some products had the per unit pricing on display, while others did not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Examples of products with per unit pricing:<\/p>\n
Milk powder \u2013 per 100g<\/p>\n
Tissue paper and toilet roll \u2013 per 100 sheets<\/p>\n
Detergent \u2013 some are in per 100g and some are in per 100ml<\/p>\n
Rice and sugar \u2013 per 100g<\/p>\n
Instant coffee \u2013 per sachet<\/p>\n
Some products without per unit pricing are breakfast cereals, Milo and Ovaltine powders, fruit juices, ice creams, shampoos, adult and child diapers, and toothpaste.<\/p>\n
For consumers who are concerned about shrinkflation, SingStat noted that the CPI numbers do account for this pricing tactic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn compiling the CPI, changes in product size are systematically tracked and adjusted when feasible, by computing the prices per a fixed unit of measurement, for example, price per kg.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any price changes are then reflected in the CPI, it added.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 Shoppers in Singapore may be paying the same \u2013 or more \u2013 for less when it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638679,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-638678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}