Rice prices in Singapore dollars: how high is world rice in history, and why do shop prices move differently?

Rice is priced in US dollars on world markets. This note converts the World Bank’s export benchmark, Thai 5% white rice, into Singapore dollars, places it in history, and compares it with what Singapore’s consumer price index shows for rice.

How much is world rice in Singapore dollars now?

About S$601 a tonne, or S$0.60 a kilogram, on the August 2026 monthly average. The World Bank’s Pink Sheet puts Thai 5% white rice at US$471 a tonne that month, and the monthly average exchange rate was 1.2763 Singapore dollars per US dollar (FRED).

Thai 5% white rice export price, August 2026 monthly average, converted at the same month's average exchange rate (CapsWindow calculation). This is a bulk export price, not a supermarket price

August is the latest month with both a rice price and an exchange rate on this site. The World Bank has already published September: US$482 a tonne, up 28.9% from US$374 a year earlier.

Visual guide

How much is world rice in Singapore dollars now?

S$ per tonne

• August 2025482
• October 2025 (recent low)461
• June 2026 (2026 high)636
• August 2026601
• September 2026, reference only615

0636

Month	Thai 5% (US$ per tonne)	US$1 in S$	S$ per tonne	S$ per kg
August 2025	375	1.2847	482	0.48
October 2025 (recent low)	356	1.2952	461	0.46
June 2026 (2026 high)	494	1.2878	636	0.64
August 2026	471	1.2763	601	0.60
September 2026, reference only	482	1.2763 (August)	615	0.62

Singapore dollar prices are CapsWindow calculations. The September row uses August’s exchange rate because September’s is not yet in this site’s data, so the months do not match.

Where does it rank since 1981?

In Singapore dollars, August 2026 ranks 142nd of 548 months since January 1981, when this site’s exchange rate series starts. It is well below the peaks.

Month	US$ per tonne	US$1 in S$	S$ per tonne	August 2026 compared
April 2008 (record)	907	1.3643	1,237	−51.4%
June 1981	510.3	2.1439	1,094	−45.1%
January 2024 (2023–24 high)	660	1.3362	882	−31.8%
August 2026	471	1.2763	601	—

The five most expensive months in Singapore dollars are April and May 2008 and May to July 1981. The 1981 months appear because one US dollar then bought about S$2.14 to S$2.16, so a moderate US dollar price became a high Singapore dollar price.

The ranking is cooler in Singapore dollars than in US dollars. Over the same 548 months, August 2026 ranks 108th in US dollars; since January 2000 it ranks 120th of 320 months in Singapore dollars and 102nd in US dollars. In US dollars the August price is 48.1% below April 2008 and 28.6% below January 2024, both smaller gaps than in Singapore dollars (CapsWindow calculations).

How much did the exchange rate change the rise?

Very little for Singapore. From August 2025 to August 2026 the benchmark rose 25.6% in US dollars and 24.8% in Singapore dollars. Over the same year the Singapore dollar strengthened slightly, from 1.2847 to 1.2763 per US dollar, a change of −0.7%, which trimmed the rise.

Currencies that weakened against the US dollar saw a bigger rise in their own terms:

Currency	Benchmark change in local currency, Aug 2025 to Aug 2026	Local currency per US$
US dollar	+25.6%	—
Singapore dollar	+24.8%	−0.7% (stronger)
Hong Kong dollar	+25.9%	+0.2% (pegged)
Malaysian ringgit	+20.9%	−3.7% (stronger)
Japanese yen	+35.3%	+7.7% (weaker)
Philippine peso	+35.1%	+7.5% (weaker)
Indonesian rupiah	+37.1%	+9.2% (weaker)

All figures are CapsWindow calculations from World Bank prices and monthly average exchange rates. Measured from the October 2025 low, the benchmark is up 30.4% in Singapore dollars and 32.3% in US dollars.

Is it expensive after inflation?

No. Adjusted with Singapore’s headline CPI, the April 2026 price ranks 295th of 316 months since January 2000, near the bottom of the range. The site’s CPI series ends in April 2026, so that is the latest month that can be measured in real terms. In April the benchmark was US$403, or S$514 a tonne.

In April 2026 prices, the April 2008 record is worth about S$1,751 a tonne, so April 2026 was 70.6% below it. The January 2024 high is worth about S$911, so April 2026 was 43.6% lower. The cheapest month since 2000 in real terms was October 2025, at about S$464 in April 2026 prices (all CapsWindow calculations). The real gaps are wider than the nominal ones because Singapore’s consumer prices rose about 41.5% from April 2008 to April 2026.

Comparing August’s nominal S$601 with these April-price peaks gives 34.0% below January 2024 and 65.7% below April 2008. That is approximate, because consumer prices for May to August 2026 are not in the series. To compare an amount of money across years on several measures, use the past money calculator.

Compare your own amount →

What about rice prices in Singapore shops?

They have moved far less. SingStat’s rice index, part of the consumer price index (M213751), was 101.773 in September 2026 (2024 = 100), up 2.5% from a year earlier. The world benchmark rose 24.8% in Singapore dollars over the year to August.

SingStat CPI measure	Rice	All items
September 2026, year on year	+2.5%	+2.2%
August 2026, year on year	+1.6%	+2.3%
September 2025, year on year	−1.1%	—
Highest month	April 2025, 103.924 (September 2026 is 2.1% lower)	—
5 years to September 2026	+6.8%	+17.3%
10 years to September 2026	+8.6%	+22.1%
Rice and cereal products, 20 years to September 2026	+75.0%	+55.3%

Year-on-year changes and multi-year changes are CapsWindow calculations from the SingStat index. Over ten years rice in Singapore has risen far less than consumer prices overall.

Several things sit between an export price and a shop price: the variety and grade of rice, importers’ contracts and stock, shipping, packing, distribution and retail margins. Singapore relies on imported rice, and importers take part in a government Rice Stockpile Scheme run by Enterprise Singapore. This note does not have a confirmed average shop price per kilogram, and it does not measure how much each factor explains the gap. In 2008 the shop index did respond: rice and cereal products were up 20.3% year on year in June 2008.

Why did prices rise again, and how should these figures be read?

The benchmark fell to US$356 a tonne in October 2025, its 2025 low, then rose to US$494 in June 2026 and US$482 in September. The FAO reported that its All Rice Price Index “increased by 1.4 percent in September 2026, as Indica quotations rose amid weather concerns and seasonally tighter supplies” (FAO).

Reports point to several pressures. India’s rice exporters’ association said the 2026/27 crop could fall by about 10 million tonnes from a record 154 million tonnes, after rainfall since 1 June ran 15% below normal (Business Today); the USDA puts India’s 2026/27 output at 147 million tonnes (S&P Global). In mid-October Thai 5% was quoted at US$480, the highest since 10 September, with floods delaying loading (Reuters via Business Recorder), and it was unchanged a week later (Reuters via Business Recorder). Market reports also cite El Nino concerns and freight and insurance costs (Trading Economics). The same Business Today report quoted New Delhi dealers saying India’s record state stocks would let it keep exporting without restrictions.