Fewer than half of S’poreans feel better off than a year ago as share of pessimists doubles

Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. Data sourced from the Sensing SG survey by Blackbox Research.

The impact of the war in Iran is being felt by Singaporeans, according to the latest update to the long-running domestic sentiment survey carried out by Blackbox Research on approximately 1500 residents in Apr. The disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to oil and gas shortages across Asia, is also reflected in higher energy and petrol prices in Singapore.

This, in turn, not only influences the day-to-day transportation costs or electricity tariffs, but the costs of most goods as well, since the country imports almost everything, and all those goods have to arrive by air, road, or, mostly, sea.

It’s hardly a surprise, then, that the cost of living has rebounded as a top national concern, rising from 34% of responses in Q4 2025 to 46% in Q1 2026.

What’s more, according to Blackbox, just 46% of Singaporeans feel better off today than a year ago, which is the lowest reading recorded yet and sharp drop from 54% in Q4 of 2025.

And optimism about the future is melting equally quickly.

43% of respondents believe that the country will be doing better a year from now (down from 53%), while the share of those who think it’s going to be worse has doubled from just 19% to 38%.

There’s a warning for the government hidden in these statistics, too, as public confidence in the management of cost pressures is sliding already.

While the Government continues to receive high marks for Defence and National Security, which rose by six percentage points to 90%, its performance on Cost of Living has slipped 6 points to 46%.

Other key measures, such as housing affordability, the wealth gap, and GST, have all declined by at least three percentage points.

While a vast majority of the population may be happy with how the country is managed, they do expect the authorities to proactively address crises such as the current one caused by a distant, foreign war. Since the measures announced by PM Wong are only scheduled to be deployed in the coming months, most people haven’t yet felt them in their wallets.

Singaporeans still believe in themselves

Interestingly, the pessimism about the next 12 months in Singapore doesn’t translate into self-doubt, as still more than half of the local residents (52%) expect to be better off. Even though it’s a drop from 59% in Dec, it is relatively much smaller.

Similarly, just 19% see themselves falling behind over the next year—half as many as those who predict that to be the case for the entire country.

What’s more, in spite of the headwinds caused by the war, 86.3% are satisfied with the current situation in Singapore, 81.4% rate the economic situation positively, and 76.5% are happy with their personal finances.

In other words, while more people are anxious about what the turbulent future might bring, the vast majority are still very comfortable with where they are. And feel about the same about Singapore as a whole, too.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s current affairs here.

Also Read: Despite some pain, Singapore is one of the biggest winners of the war in Iran. Here’s why.

Featured Image Credit: Guo Xin Goh via Unsplash