Would You Pay $76,000 for the Right to Own a Car? In One City, You Have to

Singapore already has—by some measures—the highest cost of living of any city in the world. For drivers, it just got that much more expensive. To own a car in the Southeast Asian city-state, a license from the government now starts at $76,000, or 104,000 Singapore dollars. And again, that’s just the fee to own a vehicle, not counting the price of the car or any other related costs.

Drivers must obtain a Certificate of Entitlement (COE), a 10-year quota-based license that gives you the right to own and use a vehicle in Singapore, which is offered through a bidding process. And while it was always expensive, a COE now costs four times what it did even just back in 2020, as the post-pandemic recovery has driven up the costs to all-time highs.

That fee also goes up depending on the vehicle. The $76,000 gets you purchase rights for a standard Category A car that has a small to medium-sized engine of 1,600cc or below. However, a Category B license needed to drive an SUV costs $106,630, or 146,002 Singapore dollars.

The quota system was first introduced in 1990 to minimize traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions in the small city, which is home to 5.9 million residents. Given that the median monthly household income was $7,376, or 10,099 Singapore dollars, in 2022, owning a car is now unattainable for the average middle-class resident of Singapore.

However, the city also boasts a fast and efficient public transportation system that allows you to easily get pretty much anywhere around the island, which can be driven across in under an hour. But that’s of little comfort for those who need a vehicle, such as many families with children, or even those who make a living selling them.

Local car dealer Ricky Goh told CNN that he “nearly fainted” when he heard about the price increase. “Sales have already been so poor,” he lamented. “This on top of that will be even worse for business.”