Singapore saw a pattern similar to elsewhere, with significant underperformance of the central business districts and airport areas.
SMBs in Singapore's commercial business district saw their spending drop to roughly 13% of their 2019 levels in April 2020 and they slowly bounced back to 74% of 2019 levels by August 2021. Large businesses in Singapore's business district had an even more dramatic shift from 28% of 2019 spending levels in April 2020 to 129% of 2019 levels by August 2021. Both SMBs and large business outside of the business district have outperformed their 2019 levels with large business spending at 104% of 2019 levels and SMBs at 107% of their 2019 levels.
The government's push to promote domestic tourism has helped provide some support. In July 2020, the Singapore Tourism Board rolled out the "SingapoRediscovers" campaign, which included a voucher for people to book hotels, attractions and tours. The gradual reopening to international tourists, combined with the strong vaccination performance and a return of workers to offices (albeit at limited capacity), should mean some reversal of fortunes over the next 1-2 years.
SMB Retail Spending August 2021 vs August 2019, Card Present
Source: Mastercard Economics Institute
As of August 30, 2021