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
|
|
Total
|
Electronics
|
Chemicals
|
Biomedical
|
Precision
|
Transport
|
General
|
|
Share
of rental costs in 2012 (%)
|
2.4
|
0.9
|
1.5
|
1.4
|
2.3
|
2.5
|
4.2
|
|
Share
of rental costs in 2013 (%)
|
2.5
|
1.1
|
1.4
|
1.7
|
2.4
|
2.7
|
4.2
|
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
Wholesale Trade |
Retail Trade |
Transport & Storage |
Accommodation & Food Services |
Information & Communications |
Financial & Insurance Activities |
Business Services | |
Share of rental costs in 2012 (%) |
5.1 |
31.6 |
1.4 |
19.4 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
2.3 |
Share of rental costs in 2013 (%) |
5.3 |
31.0 |
1.5 |
20.5 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
2.5 |
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.