Minister Lim Hng Kiang's Written Reply to Parliament Question on Rental Costs for SMEs

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Question

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry what is the percentage of rental costs out of total business costs for SMEs with (i) 10 or more employees and (ii) fewer than 10 employees, for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, broken down by industry sector.

Written Answer (attributed to Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry)

1. SPRING Singapore defines small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as enterprises with operating receipts of not more than S$100 million or employment size of not more than 200 workers.

2. Based on this definition, rental costs accounted for less than 5 per cent of the total business costs of SMEs in the manufacturing sector in both 2012 and 2013 (Table 1).

Table 1: Share of Rental Costs in Business Costs of SMEs in the Manufacturing Sector, 2012 and 2013  

Source: Economic Development Board

3.           As for the SMEs in the services industries, the share of rental costs in their business costs in 2012 and 2013 varied significantly by industry (Table 2). For example, while rentals were a key cost component for SMEs in the retail trade and accommodation & food services industries, they accounted for only a small proportion of SMEs’ total business costs in the other services industries. 

Table 2: Share of Rental Costs in Business Costs of SMEs in the Services Industries, 2012 and 2013  

 Source: Department of Statistics

4. A breakdown into the rental cost shares for SMEs with fewer than 10 employees, and 10 or more employees is not available for all industries. As for the rental cost statistics for 2014, they will be ready at a later date.