To which language should you translate to localize in Singapore?

Official language

Chinese (52%; 3.07 mln), English (29.8%; 1.76 mln), Malay (11.9%; 704k) and Tamil (4.4%; 260k)

Actual languages

Chinese (52%; 3.07 mln), English (29.8%; 1.76 mln), Malay (11.9%; 704k), Tamil (4.4%; 260k), Hindi (1.2%; 71k), other (0.7%; 41k)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Singapore

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

• 103/150 localize by translating into English
• 9/150 localize by translating into both English and Simplified Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Thai
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, French, Japanese, Italian and Russian
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, French and Japanese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, French and Japanese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese and French
• 1/150 localizes by translating into English, Simplified Chinese and Singapore Sign Language
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese

• 3M
• ABB
• Accenture
• Adidas
• Adobe
• Airbnb
• Aldi
• Amazon
• American Airlines
• American Express
• Apple
• Audi
• Autodesk
• Avis
• Bayer
• BMW
• Booking.com
• Bosch
• British Airways
• Bumble
• Burberry
• BYD
• Canon
• Capgemini
• Cartier
• Caterpillar
• Chevrolet
• Cisco Systems
• Citibank
• Coca-Cola
• Costco
• Dell
• Deloitte
• Delta
• DHL
• Disney+
• Dyson
• eBay
• Eli Lilly
• Emirates
• Ernst & Young
• Facebook
• FedEx
• Ford
• Four Seasons
• Fujifilm
• GE
• Gillette
• GoDaddy
• Google
• Gucci
• Haier
• Heineken
• Hermès
• Hertz
• Hilton
• Hisense
• Hitachi
• Honda
• Hotels.com
• HP
• HP Enterprise
• HSBC
• Huawei
• Hyatt
• Hyundai
• IBM
• IKEA
• Intel
• InterContinental Hotels
• J&J
• Jack Daniel's
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
• John Deere
• Kellogg's
• Kia
• KPMG
• LOréal
• Land Rover
• LEGO
• Lenovo
• Lexus
• LG
• Louis Vuitton
• Lululemon
• LUSH
• Marriott
• MasterCard
• McDonald's
• Mercedes-Benz
• Merck
• Microsoft
• Mitsubishi Electric
• Nestlé
• Netflix
• Nike
• Nikon
• Nintendo
• Nio
• Nissan
• NIVEA
• Oracle
• Pampers
• Panasonic
• PayPal
• Pepsi
• Pfizer
• Philips
• Pitney Bowes
• Porsche
• Procter & Gamble
• PWC
• Revolut
• Rolex
• Royal Caribbean
• Salesforce
• Samsung
• Sanofi
• SAP
• Sephora
• Shopify
• Siemens
• Sony
• Spotify
• Starbucks
• Steelcase
• Stripe
• Subaru
• Tesla
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Tiffany
• Tinder
• Toshiba
• Toyota
• TripAdvisor
• Uber
• United Airlines
• UPS
• Visa
• Volkswagen
• Volvo Cars
• Vrbo
• Walmart
• Western Union
• Wikipedia
• Wise
• WordPress
• Workday
• Xerox
• Xiaomi (Mi)
• Zara
• Zoom

Show all websites

Available in

Overview

Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal/Worlddata

Facts and data

Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal

Tiny Giant, Major Harmony

What's Imminent In Singapore

Each month, we spotlight a country with its own unique characteristics. Using analytical lens, we explore What’s Imminent in the linguistic, cultural, and economic tapestry to unveil its true character. Join us in this insightful exploration to understand the distinctive dynamics of each region.

Read it now!

Source: OEC

Source: Statista

Source: OEC

Source: OEC

Source: OEC

Source: Statista

Source: Statista

Source: OEC

Source: WorldBank

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.

Try it now

Media data source: BBC

Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter

Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF

Department of Statics Singapore

Department of Statics Singapore

Department of Statics Singapore

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com

Country Curiosities

Singapore is a relatively new country, officially becoming independent on August 9, 1965, after separating from Malaysia. This modern metropolis has transformed remarkably from a low-income nation to a high-income state, boasting one of the world’s largest GDP growth rates. After British colonial rule ended in 1963, Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia. However, due to political and economic differences, the union dissolved two years later. Malaysia chose to break ties, leaving Singapore to continue as an independent state. Despite these challenges, Singapore has made significant strides in development and prosperity.

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com

Languages research

English as a first language – but it is significant how important the second language is to safeguard asian cultural identities.

Singapore has a bilingual education policy, where all students in government schools are taught English as their first language. Students in Primary and Secondary schools also learn a second language called their “Mother Tongue” by the Ministry of Education, where they are either taught Mandarin, Malay, or Tamil. English is the main language of instruction for most subjects, while Mother Tongue is used in Mother Tongue lessons and moral education classes. This is because Singapore’s “bilingualism” policy of teaching and learning English and Mother Tongue in primary and secondary schools is viewed as a “cultural ballast” to safeguard Asian cultural identities and values against Western influence.

Department of Statics Singapore

Department of Statics Singapore

Department of Statics Singapore

Non residents in Singapore

In 2019, work-permit holders and foreign domestic workers comprised 56% (or about 941,000) of the 1.68 million non-residents in Singapore. Singapore continues to have a strong demand for low-wage migrant workers, and their numbers will likely remain substantial in the years to come. It is necessary to work resolutely towards enhancing the working and living conditions of migrant workers who suffer deplorable hygiene conditions and overcrowding in the foreign workers’ dormitories. The foreign workers live in Singapore’s dormitories, where 10 to 20 men are often packed into a single room. These utilitarian complexes on the city-state’s periphery have become hives of infection, revealing a blind spot in Singapore’s previously vaunted coronavirus response. As of April 28, these dorms were home to 85% of Singapore’s 14,951 cases.

The term Foreign worker refers to semi-skilled or unskilled immigrants who work primarily in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. Most of them come from places such as the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Thailand, under bilateral agreements between Singapore and these countries. 

Foreign Talents refers to foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees who work at the highest end of Singapore’s economy. They mostly come from India, Australia, the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Europe, New Zealand and the United States.

The stability of society is rooted in the confucian mentality and it hinders the improvement of social conditions and the achievement of

Hofstede insight

POWER DISTANCE

Chinese and Indian Singaporeans are generally regarded as business-savvy ethnic groups as they tend to be profit-oriented, dominating the political and economic facets of society. The Malay population is often considered to be less economically competitive and more content with making ends meet.

The power distance dimension addresses the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these social inequalities. Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

Singapore scores high on this dimension (rating  of 74). With a Confucian background (the Chinese), they normally have a syncretic approach to religion, which is also the dominant approach in Singapore. One of the key principles of Confucian teaching is the stability of society, which is based on unequal relationships between people. Confucius distinguished five basic relationships: ruler-subject; father-son; older brother-younger brother; husband-wife; and senior friend-junior friend. These relationships are based on mutual and complementary obligations. Here we can see the high PDI as a consequence.

Power is centralised and managers rely on their bosses and on rules. Employees expect to be told what to do. Control is expected and attitude towards managers is formal. Communication is indirect and the information flow is selective. We can see the high PDI also in the first of the government’s defined five “shared values”: Nation before community and society above self.

INDIVIDUALISM

Singapore, with a score of 20 is a collectivistic society. This means that the “We factor” is important, people belong to in-groups (families, clans or organisations) who look after each other in exchange for loyalty. Here we can also see the second key principle of the Confucian teaching: The family is the prototype of all social organisations. A person is not primarily an individual; rather, he or she is a member of a family. 

The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com

Photo credit: Victor, Unsplash