In Singapore, you need this certificate to own a car which costs a whooping…

Singapore has a 10-year “certificate of entitlement” system which was introduced in 1990 with the aim to control the number of vehicles in the small country.

To own a car in Singapore, a person must bid for a certificate which now costs $106,000 almost equivalent to four Toyota Camry Hybrids in the US. Singapore has a 10-year "certificate of entitlement" (COE) system which was introduced in 1990 with the aim to control the number of vehicles in the small country. The quota is offered through a bidding process and has made it the most expensive city in the world to buy a car. The COE for a large car has more than quadrupled since 2020 to a record S$146,002 ($106,376.68).

Singapore has a 10-year "certificate of entitlement" (COE) system which was introduced in 1990.

In addition to the certificate, the buyer also needs to pay registration fees and taxes which means that a new standard Toyota Camry Hybrid currently costs S$251,388 ($183,000) in Singapore, compared with $28,855 in the US. In contrast, a small government-subsidised flat in Singapore costs about S$125,000.

In 2020, when fewer people in Singapore were driving cars, the price of COEs dropped to about S$30,000 but a post-Covid increase in economic activity has led to more car purchases. As the total number of vehicles on the road is capped at about 950,000 in Singapore, the number of new COEs available depends on how many older cars are deregistered.

But owing to the skyrocketing price, cars are out of reach of most middle-class Singaporeans as the median annual household salary in country is S$121,188.