Number of private hire cars in Singapore 2013-2022

In 2022, there were around 73 thousand private hire cars, both self-drive and chauffeured, in Singapore. The rising number of private-hire cars are presumably related to the growing ride-hailing market in Singapore.

Taxis and ride hailing

After Grab bought over Uber’s Southeast Asia business in 2018, it became the biggest ride-hailing company in Singapore. At the same time, its biggest rival, Indonesia’s Gojek, decided to expand its business to Singapore. In 2019, the number of monthly active users of Gojek there reached 0.8 million.
The expansion in the ride-hailing market saw an increase in the number of private hire cars. However, the size of the taxi fleet in Singapore has been decreasing over the past few years. To sustain both industries, the Singapore government released a Point-to-Point Passenger Transport Industry Bill. This benefitted both the commuters and taxi and private hire car drivers. Now, all taxi drivers can sign up with any ride-hailing platform, allowing them to reach the same pool of users. With these new regulations in place, commuters could be picked up by a taxi when booking a ride on a ride-hailing app.

Win-win solution for drivers and companies

However, owning a car in Singapore involves many costs that surpass its purchase price. The same car in Singapore could cost five times higher than in Japan. Due to the country’s relatively small size, the Singapore government needs to regulate the motor vehicle numbers in Singapore to manage traffic congestion. To overcome this hurdle, ride-hailing companies provide rental cars to potential drivers who may not be able to afford their own car. This seems to be a win-win solution for both parties.