Global Market Surferby INTAGE Inc

<Expat's Chat BAR> Inflation in Each Country: Things you can experience only if you are there

▼Members
Aoba (Expat in Thailand, male)
Suhara (Expat in Singapore, female)
Park (Singaporean local staff, male)
Okayama (Data Spring staff who often travels to the Philippines on business, male)
Akashio (India local staff, male)
Kashii (Expat in Shanghai, male)
Sekio (Expat in Shanghai, female)

People mention inflation everywhere, but what are the impacts you experience from your everyday lives?

Eating Out

(Park) Singapore: Prices are going up at the kind of restaurants that we go to for lunch for sure. Even at the salad vendor I often go to, what used to be $10 for one plate is now $14 or $15, and if you add toppings to that, it ends up being $17 or $18.
*1 Singapore dollar = 102 yen

（Suhara）Singapore: Prices have gone up at the affordable restaurants that people use in their daily lives. Even in hawker centers (street food stalls), some restaurants that used to charge around $6.00 are now charging $6.50, and the quality of chicken at some of my favorite restaurants has gone down, or the size of the chicken has gotten smaller.

Housing rent

(Park) Singapore: Housing rents in Singapore, which are said to be expensive to begin with, have risen even higher, with some rents now 1.5 to 2 times higher than before. Especially after Corona pandemic, rent prices have been rising, and it seems that companies are wondering whether they should keep their expats in Singapore or not.

(Suhara) Singapore: For me, it was just on the time of renewal, so I only had to pay 1.1 times more, but I’ve heard if it is for a new contract you have to pay 1.3 to 1.4 times more. In the Central Business District, where there are many expats, only the houses for rent over $6,000 (approx. 610,000 yen) are available, and we heard that a new expat has been living in a serviced apartment for three months because he could not find a place to live and I even heard that some are negotiating with the company to pay them higher rent fee.

（Aoba）Thailand: Rents were falling all over the place at the time of Corona, but now, in reaction to that, the prices are soaring higher and higher. Many of the apartments are now over the maximum rent allowed to expats by the companies, and it seems that they are forced to move out of their apartments. Landlords are raising the prices of serviced apartments and condominiums to attract more travelers.

(Suhara) Singapore: Regarding the soaring real estate prices in Singapore, there seems to be a background of wealthy people from China and Hong Kong buying and renting at an exaggerated price. This, combined with a shortage of rooms due to construction delays caused by Corona, seems to have contributed to the soaring prices.

(PARK) Singapore: Since real estate is currently a seller's market, it is no longer possible to negotiate with the owners (e.g., prices, replacing old furniture that is attached, etc.).

(Kashii) Shanghai, China: Real estate prices are rising, but compared to other countries, urban areas do not seem to be soaring. There are signs that the Chinese are trying to contain the land bubble, and Chinese people are not allowed to own more than two properties now. In Shanghai, rents have not risen so far, but I have heard that they are rising more in the rural areas.

★Editor: Singapore and Thailand have seen an increase in rent prices, but Shanghai does not seem to be experiencing such an increase, perhaps due to government controls on real estate.

Daily necessities and food

◆Do you have any concerns about daily necessities and food?

（Kashii）Shanghai, China: I don't feel that price for daily necessities are rising that much. Compared to growing countries or Singapore, where there is a lot of investment, the change is not that big. However, China is a vast country and there are large differences between cities, so it may be difficult to speak about the overall situation here.

（Suhara）Singapore: Processed foods are expensive to begin with, so I don't feel the impact on prices that much. As for fresh food, I feel that the price of eggs has gone up, and the price of eggs at Japanese supermarkets such as Don Quijote, which I often use, has gone up from 4.5 to 5.5 dollars.

（Park）Singapore: In the wet market, the price of fish seems to have gone up according to CNN news, although it does not seem to be rising very high yet.

（Akashio）India: The inflation rate in India is said to be 7% in August, and I feel that the prices of food and daily necessities are rising. However, I do not have the impression that the variety of processed foods, etc. is decreasing.

(Okayama) Philippines: Prices are also rising in the Philippines, which is hitting households directly. In particular, food and daily necessities are rising day by day.

◆You also don’t feel too much of price increase in imported goods either?

（Kashii）Shanghai, China: Imported goods are often on discounts and the market price is ambiguous.

(Sekio) Shanghai, China: Also, the selling prices of imported goods are originally high.

（Kashii）Shanghai, China: Indeed. For example, Japanese cosmetics are 1.25 to 1.5 times more expensive. Other items include Lay's potato chips (in cylindrical package) for about 12 yuan (240 yen).

（Sekio）Shanghai, China: Starbucks is also expensive. It's so expensive that it refrain from you to drink if you convert it to Japanese yen.

★Editor: It seems that China and Singapore are not feeling that much of a big price increase for daily necessities and food, whereas India and the Philippines are actually experiencing price increases.

Energy

◆What about the cost of gas, etc.?

（Okayama）Philippines: Grub drivers told us that the cost of gas is going up by one peso every day, and an increasing number of local staffs have said that they have stopped driving to work. The increase in price is affecting them quite a bit.

(Aoba) Thailand: Thailand is the same.

◆How about the electricity bill?

(Aoba) Thailand: It feels like the pricing is so high that we have never paid before.

(Park) Singapore: It is going up so much that I feel like “I have to pay this much?”.

(Kashii) Shanghai, China: It feels like the electricity rates are different depending on the area. Shanghai is getting various preferential treatment in terms of electricity, but Sichuan Province, which uses hydroelectric power, is having a tough time due to power shortages caused by drought.
However, although there are seasonal fluctuations, I honestly do not feel that there is such a big change because of the pricing. This summer was extremely hot in Shanghai, so the billing fee was higher than usual, but I honestly don't know if it was due to the heat or actual pricing.

◆Do you save electricity?

★Editor: Countries that rely on energy imports, such as Thailand and Singapore, seem to be affected by the world situation and electricity bills are rising, but China seems to be in a situation where the rise is not felt, perhaps due to government initiatives.

General

◆The impression is that price hikes in China are relatively slow compared to other countries, is it true?

（Kashii）Shanghai, China: There are large differences by city, especially in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, where prices had soared earlier. Prices that soared at that time may be settling in now at a high level.

◆Do you feel that you are able to endure the rising prices because your salary is also rising?

(Akashio) India: It was on the news that salaries have increased sevenfold in the last 10 years.

(Aoba) Thailand: It seems that the minimum wage will increase in October for the first time in a long time in Thailand, but the rise in prices is much higher than the increase in wages.

★Editor: If a country is originally developing and has inflation, it may be more tolerant of inflation than developed countries such as Japan, so my impression is that there is not a very big reaction to the current inflation caused by Ukraine.

---

• 

  Author profile

  Fong-Tat CHEW

  Having lived in Malaysia until high school, I experienced how the prices of things keep rising every year, but in the 12 years I have been in Japan, I have completely forgotten what inflation feels like.

• 

  Editor profile

  Yukiko Usui

  Today, I am once again realizing that there are many things that cannot be understood only from the printed word.

• Oct 12, 2022
• 2502 Views