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Nutrition & Lifestyle

Singapore Is Eating Less Sugar, But Sodium and Calorie Intake Keep Climbing

1 day ago

Singapore is eating less sugar. So why are salt and calories still rising? The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2025, released on 3 October 2026, found that daily sugar intake has fallen from 60g in 2018 to 48g in 2025, roughly two and a half fewer teaspoons a day. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said this shows that “our taste buds are changing, which is good.”

The rest of the survey is less encouraging. Over the same stretch, average calorie intake climbed from 2,360kcal to 2,460kcal a day, and average sodium intake rose from 3,480mg to 4,000mg, twice the recommended limit. Nearly all residents (95%) now exceed the daily sodium cap, up from 88% in 2019. What’s driving the rise? More frequent meals out and richer dishes.

Key Takeaways

  • Daily sugar intake fell from 60g (2018) to 48g (2025), and 79% of residents now stay within the recommended sugar limit, up from 61% in 2019, per the NNS 2025.
  • Average calorie intake rose from 2,360kcal to 2,460kcal a day between 2019 and 2025; 57% of residents now exceed their recommended calorie intake.
  • Average sodium intake rose from 3,480mg to 4,000mg a day, double the 2,000mg limit; 95% of residents exceed it, up from 88% in 2019.
  • Eating out is the common driver: 7 in 10 residents now eat out at least once a day, up from 6 in 10 in 2019, and dishes themselves have gotten saltier and more calorie-dense.
  • HPB is extending Nutri-Grade labelling to salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil by 2028, and has launched an “Ask for Less” campaign encouraging diners to request less salt and sauce.

Why Sugar Finally Went Down

Customer drinks tea beside a colorful tea cart where a vendor prepares beverages

So what helped bring sugar intake down? The timing points to policy changes. Mandatory Nutri-Grade labelling for pre-packaged beverages started in December 2022, followed by advertising restrictions on the lowest grades and an extension to freshly prepared drinks. HPB’s nutrient analysis of retail sales data shows the median sugar level in pre-packaged beverages fell from 7.1% in 2017 to 4.6% in 2024, while freshly prepared drinks fell from 7.5% in 2020 to 4.1% in 2025. Since sugar-sweetened drinks are Singapore’s single largest source of dietary sugar, reformulation there moved the national number more than any individual diner’s choices could.

Why Sodium and Calories Are Still Climbing

The NNS 2025 traces the rise in both sodium and calories to the same underlying shift: residents are eating out more, and eating out is linked to a poorer diet. In 2025, 7 in 10 residents ate out at least once a day, up from 6 in 10 in 2019, and did so more often throughout the week. Those who eat out most frequently consume more sodium, saturated fat, and calories than those who eat out least. Within that, added salt, sauces and seasonings used in cooking, think soupy, gravy and sauce-based dishes, remain the single biggest contributor to high sodium intake, with processed foods like instant noodles a distant second at around 15%.

Minister Ong noted that taking in just 100 calories more than the body needs each day could translate to about 5kg of weight gain over a year, which raises obesity and heart disease risk. Excess sodium works through a different but related pathway: it raises blood pressure, a major driver of heart attack and stroke. Ong noted that more than 60 people in Singapore suffer a heart attack or stroke daily, and that heart disease accounts for roughly a third of all deaths here.

What’s Actually Being Done About It

Customer checks a food order on a phone while a vendor prepares dishes at a market stall

HPB’s approach mirrors what worked for sugar: make the healthier option the default, then regulate. Mandatory Nutri-Grade labelling and advertising prohibitions will extend to pre-packed salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil, originally planned for mid-2027 but now pushed to 2028 to give manufacturers more time to reformulate without compromising taste or, in the case of products like soya sauce, the fermentation process itself. On the ground, HPB launched an “Ask for Less” movement on 22 September 2026, encouraging diners to request less salt, sauce and gravy, and is working with hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts to make lower-sodium ingredients the easier choice for operators. Around 3,000 food and beverage outlets now use lower-sodium ingredients, up from about 500 four years ago. Residents can also track their own sodium, sugar and calorie intake against personalised limits through the meal-logging feature on HPB’s Healthy 365 app.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 4,000mg of sodium a day actually that bad?

Yes. It is double the recommended limit of 2,000mg, roughly one teaspoon of salt, and the WHO links sustained excess sodium intake to raised blood pressure and higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

If sugar intake improved, why hasn’t sodium followed suit?

Sodium is harder to reformulate out of food. HPB officials have noted that cutting salt too aggressively from products like soya sauce can affect fermentation and quality, and sauces are precise flavour blends that need complete rebalancing, not simple reduction, to stay palatable.

What can I actually do differently starting today?

Ask for less salt, sauce or gravy when dining out, since that is now HPB’s specific public ask, and lean on herbs, spices and umami ingredients rather than salt when cooking at home. Logging meals on an app like Healthy 365 can also make high-sodium patterns visible before they become a habit.

Does eating out more always mean a worse diet?

Not necessarily, but the survey found a clear association: residents who ate out two or more times a day had higher sodium, saturated fat, and calorie intake than those who ate out six times a week or less, largely because restaurant and hawker dishes use more salt, sauce, and oil than typical home cooking.

The Bottom Line

Singapore’s sugar numbers show that national dietary habits can shift when policy, industry reformulation and consumer habits move together, and that took around five years of sustained effort. Sodium and calories are now following the same playbook, just later and against a harder problem, since taste, texture and the structural role of salt in food make reformulation slower. Until labelling and reformulation catch up, the most immediate lever is the one HPB is already asking for: fewer sauces, less gravy and a little less salt each time you eat out.

Editorial Note

This article is intended for general educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Individual sodium, calorie and nutrient needs vary by age, weight, activity level and existing health conditions such as hypertension or kidney disease. Consult a doctor or dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, particularly if you have a chronic health condition.

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