SINGAPORE – More people in Singapore are taking less sugar, and they are engaging in physical activity and getting screened for chronic diseases and cancers.

However, as more residents eat out frequently, the country’s consumption of calories and sodium has increased, with almost all Singapore citizens and permanent residents exceeding the daily recommended sodium intake limit.

This is according to findings from the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) National Population Health Survey, and the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) National Nutrition Survey.

They were announced by Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung on Oct 3 at the National Heart Week and World Heart Day event at Heartbeat@Bedok, organised by the Singapore Heart Foundation.

The National Nutrition Survey – which polled 3,000 Singapore residents between the ages of 18 and 69 – found that the daily total sugar intake here had fallen from 60g in 2018 to 48g in 2025.

Ong said this was the equivalent of cutting down about 2½ teaspoons of sugar daily.

The percentage of respondents whose sugar consumption was within the daily recommended sugar limit of no more than 10% daily total energy intake – equivalent to about 50g, or 10 teaspoons, of sugar – had increased from 61% in 2019 to 79% in 2025.

Ong attributed the decrease to people consuming less sugar from sugar-sweetened drinks, a change driven by industry reformulation and consumers making a conscious shift towards lower-sugar options.

He said: “Our taste buds are changing, which is good.”