Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Hawkers Exiting the Trade by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Hawkers Exiting the Trade by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how many exits from the hawker industry occurred in 2022; and (b) what has been the impact of inflation in the past year on the number of hawkers who have exited the industry.

Answer:

1. In 2022, there were 342 cooked food stall tenancy terminations in hawker centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA appointed operators. This works out to an average of 29 terminations a month, which is comparable to the monthly average of 30 terminations between 2017 to 2019 prior to the COVID-19 years. Vacancy rates at hawker centres managed by the NEA or NEA appointed operators have continued to remain low and stable.