Singapore's tourism receipts rose 18.3% in Singapore dollars and 23.4% in US dollars — the gap runs the other way from Japan's
Tourism receipts went from S$27,689 million in 2019 to S$32,755 million in 2025. Because the Singapore dollar strengthened, the same change is larger in US dollars. In Japan the same comparison produces a 44.3% rise in yen and a 5.1% rise in dollars.
How much did visitors spend in Singapore?
Tourism receipts were S$32,755 million in 2025, against S$27,689 million in 2019 (Singapore Tourism Board via SingStat). That is an 18.3% rise.
Measured in US dollars, the same receipts rose 23.4%.
How much did visitors spend in Singapore?
Tourism receipts (S$ m)
Shared linear scale from zero. Selected entries from the table below. Its dates, units, definitions and limitations still apply.
| Year | Visitor arrivals | Of which under 1 day | Tourism receipts (S$ m) | Same as US$ m | Rate (S$/US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 14,595,242 | 3,179,540 | 21,777 | 15,841 | 1.3747 |
| 2019 | 18,556,637 | 3,996,795 | 27,689 | 20,297 | 1.3642 |
| 2023 | 13,045,737 | 2,789,966 | 27,156 | 20,220 | 1.3430 |
| 2024 | 15,932,931 | 3,501,401 | 29,781 | 22,286 | 1.3363 |
| 2025 | 16,219,796 | 3,787,563 | 32,755 | 25,055 | 1.3073 |
This is the opposite arrangement from Japan’s. There, the yen weakened, so the local-currency figure grew much faster than the dollar one. Here the Singapore dollar strengthened, so the dollar figure grew faster than the local one. The direction of the gap is set by which way the currency moved, not by anything visitors did.
The US dollar column is a CapsWindow conversion at BIS annual average rates; STB publishes receipts in Singapore dollars only. The 2015 row sits on a superseded methodology: STB's own footnote states that receipts from 2016 were revised and that comparison across 2015 and 2016 is not recommended. It is shown for completeness and is not used in any change calculated here. Arrivals exclude Malaysian citizens arriving by land and include same-day visitors.
Singapore does not publish spending per visitor
This is worth stating plainly, because the number is easy to assume exists. A search of the SingStat and STB catalogue for per capita expenditure, visitor expenditure and tourist spend returns no table. The arrivals tables give counts and length of stay; the receipts table gives components — accommodation S$5,414 million, food and beverage S$4,912 million, shopping S$5,208 million in 2025 and so on. Nothing joins them.
Dividing one by the other gives the following, which is our arithmetic and not an official series:
| Year | Receipts ÷ arrivals (S$) | Same as US$ |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,492 | 1,094 |
| 2023 | 2,082 | 1,550 |
| 2024 | 1,869 | 1,399 |
| 2025 | 2,019 | 1,544 |
Two things make this weaker than it looks. Arrivals include same-day visitors — 3,787,563 of them in 2025, 23.4% of the total — who spend a fraction of what an overnight visitor spends, so the ratio is a blend whose composition shifts every year. And receipts cover all visitors, so the numerator and denominator match in coverage but not in behaviour. Hong Kong, which publishes the two visitor types separately, shows how large the difference is: HK$5,503 per overnight visitor against HK$1,139 per same-day visitor in 2025.
Where the currency question bites hardest
Taiwan settles the point without needing any conversion, because its tourism authority publishes both currencies in the same table. Between 2024 and 2025 its spending per visitor rose 0.86% in US dollars and fell 2.13% in New Taiwan dollars. One survey, two official numbers, opposite signs.
Hong Kong is the control case at the other end. Its currency is pegged, so per-visitor spending fell 5.4% in Hong Kong dollars and 4.9% in US dollars between 2019 and 2025 — the two columns say the same thing. Whether a gap appears at all is a property of the exchange rate regime.
Singapore sits closer to Hong Kong than to Japan on this spectrum. The Singapore dollar is managed against a trade-weighted basket rather than floating freely, so the divergence here is a few percentage points rather than tens of them. That also means the local-currency and dollar readings of Singapore's tourism performance rarely contradict each other, which is not true everywhere in the region. This paragraph is interpretation; the figures in the tables are observations from published statistics.
The same comparison across Asia
Levels are not comparable because the measures differ, so only rates of change are shown.
| Market | Published measure | Period | Local currency | US dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | spend per visitor per trip (yen) | 2019→2025 | +44.3% | +5.1% |
| Taiwan | spend per visitor per trip (both currencies published) | 2019→2025 | +6.8% | +5.9% |
| Taiwan | same measure | 2024→2025 | −2.1% | +0.9% |
| Thailand | spend per person per day (baht) | 2024→2025 | +0.8% | +8.1% |
| Hong Kong | spend per overnight visitor (HK$) | 2019→2025 | −5.4% | −4.9% |
| Indonesia | spend per visit (US dollars only published) | 2019→2025 | +28.9% | +10.6% |
| Vietnam | spend per international tourist (US dollars only published) | 2019→2024 | +6.0% | +1.1% |
Singapore has no row here, and neither do Malaysia or the Philippines, because none of the three publishes a per-visitor measure. That is a coverage gap, not a zero, and the calculated figures earlier in this article are deliberately kept out of this table. Among the rows that are here, the measures are not on one definition: Thailand's is per day, the rest are per trip. The US dollar column for Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong, and the local-currency column for Indonesia and Vietnam, are CapsWindow conversions at BIS annual averages; Taiwan's two columns are both official.
What to check when reading these numbers
Check which currency the figure is in. Receipts up 18.3% and receipts up 23.4% are the same receipts. Neither headline is wrong; they answer different questions.
Check whether same-day visitors are inside the count. They are 23.4% of Singapore’s arrivals and a much smaller share of its spending, so a change in that mix moves any per-visitor average without anyone changing behaviour.
Check for methodology breaks. Singapore’s receipts series was revised from 2016 and STB advises against comparing across that line. A 2015-to-2025 trend drawn straight through it would be measuring the revision as much as the market.
Check who did the converting, and whether a per-visitor figure is published at all or assembled from two other series. This article marks both.
Questions & answers
How much did visitors spend in Singapore in 2025?
Tourism receipts were S$32,755 million, against S$29,781 million in 2024 and S$27,689 million in 2019 (Singapore Tourism Board, via SingStat). The 2026 figure available so far is S$8,555 million for the first quarter.
Does Singapore publish spending per visitor?
No. Searching the SingStat and STB catalogue for per capita expenditure, visitor expenditure and tourist spend returns no table. The arrivals tables carry counts and length of stay, and the receipts table carries components. Any per-visitor figure, including the one in this article, is a calculation rather than an official statistic.
Why do the Singapore dollar and US dollar figures differ?
Because the Singapore dollar strengthened, from an annual average of 1.3642 per US dollar in 2019 to 1.3073 in 2025. Receipts therefore rose 18.3% in Singapore dollars and 23.4% in US dollars. In Japan the currency moved the other way and the gap is far wider: plus 44.3% in yen against plus 5.1% in US dollars for spending per visitor.
How many visitors came in 2025?
16,219,796 international visitor arrivals, of which 3,787,563 stayed under one day. The figure excludes Malaysian citizens arriving by land. Average length of stay was 3.48 days.