To own a car in Singapore, a buyer must first apply for a special certificate, which currently costs more than US$106,000, the equivalent of four Toyota Camry hybrids in the US, Reuters reported, citing Agerpres.

Since 1990, Singapore has introduced COE-type certificates (“certificates of entitlement”), which give the right to register, own and use a vehicle in Singapore for 10 years.

The number of available COEs is determined by the authorities every six months. The COE quotas offered through the auction process have made Singapore the most expensive city in the world to buy a car, with the COE cost for a large car quadrupling since 2020 and reaching a record high of S$146,002 ($106,376) on Wednesday. USA).

Adding commissions and registration fees to the COE cost, the new Toyota Camry Hybrid currently costs S$251,388 (US$183,000) in Singapore, compared to US$28,855 in the US.

In comparison, a small government-subsidized apartment in Singapore costs around S$125,000.

In 2020, with fewer people using cars in Singapore, the price of a COE has dropped to around S$30,000. But the post-pandemic recovery has led to increased economic activity and more car purchases, while the total number of vehicles on the road is limited to about 950,000 units.

The cost of owning a car in Singapore is sky-high

The number of new COEs available depends on the number of old cars registered. The explosive increase in COE prices makes owning a car a dream come true for many middle-class Singaporeans as the average annual salary in the island nation is S$121,188.

Jason Guan, a 40-year-old insurance agent with two children, says he bought his first car, a Toyota Rush, in 2008 for S$65,000, which included the cost of the COE certificate. Guan now lives without a personal car, focusing on the other benefits Singapore offers his family.

“For a family man, it doesn’t affect me too much because Singapore still has a good education system. In terms of security, it’s still one of the safest countries around,” says Jason Guan.

Singapore has a population of 5.9 million and you can get from one part of the country to another in less than an hour by car.