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FAQs
The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) is conducted by the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) once in every five years to collect detailed information on households’ expenditure and data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics as well as ownership of consumer durables. It is carried out over a one-year period to cover households’ expenditure on all festive seasons.
DOS is currently conducting the HES 2022/23 from November 2022 to November 2023.
Many countries, including United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, conduct surveys of a similar nature to the Household Expenditure Survey (HES).
The Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS), under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is responsible for the management and operations of the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23.
The Department of Statistics (DOS) conducts the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) to collect detailed information on the latest consumption expenditure of resident households in Singapore.
One main use of the HES is to update the weighting pattern and the basket of goods and services for the compilation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The CPI is an indicator of inflation and measures the price changes of a fixed basket of selected consumer goods and services commonly purchased by households.
The HES also provides insights to how consumers’ lifestyle and spending habits change over time. Findings from the HES are published for use by public and private sector organisations as well as members of the public.
The Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS) conducts the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) once in every five years.
For the ongoing HES 2022/23, households selected for the survey may provide their responses via the HES Online Submission form. For more information on how to proceed with the online submission, please refer to the online User Guide.
Survey officers will also visit households who have yet to respond or require assistance, to explain the details and assist them in the survey. They will carry an official identification card and a Letter of Authorisation from our Department.
The HES is conducted under the provisions of the Statistics Act 1973. All information supplied by respondents will be kept in confidence in accordance with the Statistics Act.
For the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23, a sample of some 13,000 dwelling units will be surveyed. All persons staying in the selected dwelling units will be required to take part in the HES 2022/23.
All members of the selected households who are aged 14 years and above (as at 1 December 2022) are required to keep the expenditure records for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23.
The sample for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 is selected from a sampling frame comprising all residential dwelling units in Singapore, based on a stratified design with disproportionate allocation.
Dwelling units in the sampling frame were divided into different groups (or strata) using information such as broad dwelling type and geographical region. A random sample was then selected from each group and combined to form the required sample of about 13,000 dwelling units.
As the HES is a sample survey, while a particular household may be selected to participate in the HES, the neighbouring household(s) may not also be selected.
The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) collects information on:
Regular household expenses
Food, bus/train fares, mobile phone bills,
school/tuition fees, premiums paid on term insurance etc.
Major but less frequent
expenses
Household appliances, furniture, cars, renovation etc.
Expenditure incurred on overseas vacation travel and significant events such as wedding
Household-related information
Household composition, home ownership,
ownership of additional properties and access to consumer durables
Income from various sources such
as employment, business, rental.
The duration for completing the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 questionnaire depends on the number of persons in each household. For a typical household of 3 – 4 persons, the average time taken to complete the initial questionnaire is expected to be about 45 – 60 minutes.
Members of the households aged 14 years and over will also be required to complete the expenditure recording over a two-week survey period. During this period, survey officers will visit and/or call households to assist with the recording.
Households can submit the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 survey forms via the HES Online Submission form and/or complete the survey with an interviewer via face-to-face interviews.
You may call our HES Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9am to 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) to arrange for an appointment or wait for the interviewers to visit.
Households covered in the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 are selected using an established sampling method to ensure accurate representation of the population. Each household’s participation in the HES 2022/23 is crucial to ensure that representative data are collected.
HES 2022/23 is conducted under the Statistics Act 1973 which requires all selected households to provide the necessary information for the survey. Information collected will be kept in the strictest confidence in accordance with the Statistics Act.
We value and seek the understanding and co-operation of all selected households in participating in the HES 2022/23.
The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) is conducted under the Statistics Act 1973 which requires all selected households to provide the necessary information. All responses will be kept in the strictest confidence in accordance with the Statistics Act.
All our Department’s survey officers handling the individual survey information are required to sign the undertakings under the Statistics Act as well as the Official Secrets Act. They are fully aware of the provisions and the need to safeguard such information.
The information collected will be used solely for statistical purposes.
The accuracy of the results of the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 will depend on the responses provided by the respondents. The full co-operation of the respondents is therefore very critical to the success of this national survey.
The HES 2017/18 data are also available on the SingStat Table Builder. You can view them via the following selections: Households > Household Expenditure > Household Expenditure Survey
Our Department has used administrative data from government departments where available to update our statistical database and supplement data collected in our survey. These include basic demographic information such as age, sex, ethnicity. However, not all data required are available from other government agencies.
The information not available from other government agencies are collected from households during HES 2022/23, and we appreciate respondents’ understanding and co-operation in providing the information.
Households covered in the HES 2022/23 are selected using established sampling method to ensure representativeness of the sample. Each household’s participation in the HES 2022/23 is crucial to ensure that representative data are collected. HES 2022/23 is conducted under the Statistics Act 1973 which requires all selected households to provide the necessary information for the survey. The Act also ensures that the confidentiality of your return is safeguarded.
The HES 2022/23 is a compulsory survey conducted under the Statistics Act 1973. Any person who refuses to answer,
or knowingly provides false information, or hinders the performance of a HES officer, shall be guilty of an offence. The penalties
stated in the Statistics Act 1973 include a fine not exceeding $1,000 and,
in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.
All households selected for Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 will receive an official notification letter from the Singapore Department of Statistics (DOS). For enquiries, households may call the HES Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays).
In carrying out the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23, survey officers from the Department of Statistics (DOS) will visit each household in person to explain about the required information and assist you in completing the survey forms.
You may choose to register and start completing the survey online upon receiving the Notification Letter.
You may consider gathering information on the following to facilitate your recall and response prior to filling up the online survey forms or prior to the visit by the survey officer:
Bills/Statements of Payment for Regular household expenses such as:
Home mortgage payments
Telephone bills
School and tuition fees
Premiums paid for term insurances
Major expenditure over the last 12 months such as:
Cars
Renovation
Furniture and household appliances
Overseas vacation travel
Significant events such as wedding or funeral expenses
Information about household members such as:
Highest qualification attained
Occupation
Income from various sources such as employment, business, rental
Savings
Loans
The expenditure recording activity is conducted over a 2-weeks period. If the information is not available during our survey officer’s first visit, you may provide your responses for the survey at his/her subsequent visits. You may approach our survey officers should you need further assistance in completing the survey.
Each Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 survey officer is issued with an official Identification (ID) card and
a letter of authorisation. He/she is instructed to display his/her ID card prominently while on duty. You may request to inspect the ID card
and the letter of authorisation. You may also contact the HES Hotline to verify the identity of the survey officer.
If member(s) of the households selected for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 are overseas at the point of survey, the Department of Statistics (DOS) will obtain the basic information of this/these member(s) from other member(s) staying in the same address.
If you have received an appointment slip for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23, please contact the survey officer whose contact details are found on the appointment slip. He/she will make arrangement for an interview with you. Alternatively, you may call the HES Hotline.
If you would like to change your appointment date and/or time for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23, please call the HES Hotline and provide us with your address, House ID and contact number. We will arrange for our survey officer to return your call.
The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 Hotline is 1800-888-2223, and is only applicable for calls made in
Singapore.
Please dial +65 6568 1098 for calls made from overseas.
The Hotline is open from mid-November and operates from 9am to 9pm
on Mondays to Fridays, 10am to 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays, excluding Public Holidays.
During operating hours, due to high call
traffic, you may not be able to speak to a HES 2022/23 officer at the HES Hotline. You may wish to call back at a later time.
Alternatively, you may email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg and we will contact you
regarding your query within 1-2 working days.
Your House ID for the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23 is indicated in the letter informing you that you have been selected to participate in the HES.
If you have misplaced the letter, kindly call the HES Hotline or email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg. For verification purposes, please quote your address when contacting us.
For the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2022/23, the House ID indicated in the letter informs households that they have been selected to participate in the HES.
You are encouraged to log in to the HES Online Submission Form with your ID Number/FIN number and House ID via Singpass. If you do not have a SingPass account, you may create a HES Account from the HES Homepage.
The HES Online Submission Form can only be accessed via the first mode of log in (i.e. either SingPass or HES account). If you are unable to recall the first mode of log in, please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) for assistance.
If you have not logged in before, please proceed to:
Use Singpass; or
Create a HES Account.
If you are still unable to complete your initial login, please check if another member in your house has already logged in before. Please ask him/her to add your particulars under the ‘Whereabouts’ section of the form. You may refer to the User Guide on how to add a new member.
You will need to use the same mode (i.e. either SingPass or HES account) for subsequent logins.
If you have forgotten your password for the HES Account, please reset your password by clicking on ‘Forgot password?’ on the login page.
For further assistance, please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) or email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg. Please indicate your House ID or residential address when contacting us, for our verification purposes.
If you have forgotten your password for the HES Account, please reset your password by clicking on ‘Forgot password?’ on the login page.
For further assistance, please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) or email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg. Please indicate your House ID or residential address when contacting us, for our verification purposes
Please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) for us to assist you in the changing of the mobile number tagged to your HES account.
The HES Online Submission Form is accessible throughout the survey period indicated in the notification letter informing you that you have been selected to participate in the HES 2022/23.
If you are unable to complete your HES returns online by the due date stated in your notification letter, you may request for an extension by calling the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) or emailing us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg. Please indicate your House ID or residential address when contacting us for our verification purposes.
Alternatively, you may set an appointment for our field interviewers to visit and assist you in completing the survey.
You may view online help and instructions on how to set an appointment with our field interviewers from the User Guide.
You may set an appointment with our field interviewers via the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) Online Submission Form. Details can be found in our User Guide.
You may also call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) for further assistance.
The HES 2022/23 Survey Form and Expenditure Recording can be completed over several sessions before the due date of the HES survey specified in the notification letter.
You will not be able to change the expenditure recording period for your household. You may set an appointment for our field interviewers in the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) Online Submission Form. Details can be found in our User Guide.
You may also call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) for assistance.
The Household Expenditure Survey (HES) can only be submitted via the HES Online Submission Form when all sections of the HES are completed for all members of the house online:
Expenditure Recording: Individual Regular Expenditure and Daily Recording
If your household will be providing any hardcopy returns for the expenditure recording section, our fieldwork interviewer will assist in the record submission when the survey is completed for your household.
You will be directed to an acknowledgement page with submission. An SMS and/or Email would also be sent to you, based on your preferred mode of notifications from the HES 2022/23 Online Submission Form.
The HES Online Submission System works best on desktop and mobile platforms running on the following Operating Systems:
Microsoft Windows 8 or later
MAC OS X or later
Android 11 or later
iOS 12 or later
The supported browsers are:
Edge 102 and above
Firefox 64 and above
Chrome 72 and above
Opera 88 and above
Safari 12 and above (MAC OS only)
If other browsers or settings are used, you may experience difficulties in logging in, face issues with password resets and fail to receive system prompts such as session timeout alerts, etc.
The information which you provided will be sent for processing upon submission. If you would like to check the submitted responses, please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9am to 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) for assistance.
If you wish to amend your HES 2022/23 survey returns, please call the HES 2022/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 9 pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) or email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg. Please indicate your House ID or residential address when contacting us, for our verification purpose.
You may refer to the User Guide available on the HES Submission website for information on completing the HES Online Submission form.
If you require any further assistance, please call the HES 22/23 Hotline at 1800-888-2223 (Mondays to Fridays 9am to 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 9pm, excluding public holidays) or email us at singstat_hes@singstat.gov.sg.
