Singaporeans take Chinese New Year more seriously than Christmas, according to Google data

The data never lies, and according to Google’s insights, Singaporeans take Chinese New Year even more seriously than they do Christmas. 

Perhaps, it wouldn’t need statistics for any Singaporean to know this. I mean, have you seen the insane efforts put into sprucing up Chinatown every year?

But yeah, Chinese New Year is considered the most important cultural event here, and according to Google, Singapore, in particular, outspend and outsearch its neighbours in Southeast Asia during the festivities. 

Google dropped some analytics from its Google Survey and Google Trends data, revealing that Chinese New Year surpasses Deepavali, Ramadan, and even Christmas as the most searched festive moment here — two-thirds of Singaporeans turn to Google and YouTube as early as six weeks before the actual event.

Fun fact: the number of Chinese New Year-related searches in Singapore has even increased by 27 per cent year-on-year. 

Our digital savviness and interest in the festival also mean that Singaporeans are searching about Chinese New Year way more than other markets with similar populations of ethnic Chinese. Google noted that the search volume of related queries in Singapore last year is twice of Malaysia’s. Hell, it’s even 40 per cent more than Hong Kong, whose population is made up of 92 per cent Chinese. 

But what exactly are folks looking for online? Google found out that there has been an upward trend of people looking for restaurants to have reunion dinners, including eateries offering non-traditional meals such as Japanese and Thai joints. 

Wearing new clothes while making rounds visiting friends and family is encouraged, so it’s not surprising that searches for apparel and make-up pick up closer to the start of Chinese New Year. Shopping is a must, and last year alone saw Singaporeans spend $2.3 billion during the festive season — 2.5 times more than the Singles Day sale event. 

ilyas@asiaone.com