COE quota to increase in February-April quarter, but at much slower rate

SINGAPORE: The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) quota for the February to April quarter will go up by just 2 per cent, a sharp drop in the rate of increase from the previous quarter.

The COE supply jumped 27 per cent in the quarter from November 2023 to January 2024.

There will be a total of 14,707 COEs for the next three-month period starting in February, with the quotas increased for categories A, B, and C, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday (Jan 29).

The quota for goods vehicles and buses – in category C – will be 4 per cent higher than the previous quarter, with 1,170 COEs available.

For larger cars in Category B, the supply will go up by 3 per cent compared with the previous quarter. There will be 3,895 COEs available.

For Category A – mainly used for smaller mass-market cars – the quota will be 5,609, a 2 per cent increase compared to the previous quarter.

The authority will also bring forward the guaranteed deregistrations of five-year non-extendable Category D COEs “to reduce quota supply volatility”.

“The COE quota for Categories A, B and C will continue to increase in 2024 before reaching the peak supply period from 2026, whilst Category D quota in 2024 is expected to remain comparable to 2023,” said LTA.

Bidding under the new quota will start on Feb 5.

The COE quota for the bidding period of May to July 2024 will be announced in April.

COE prices rebounded on Jan 17, after falling to levels not seen in almost two years in the exercise before that.

The COE quota consists of three components:

  • Twenty-five per cent of the replacement COEs from vehicles deregistered in the twelve-month period from January 2023 to December 2023
  • Provision for 0.25 per cent per annum growth for Category C based on the Category C vehicle population as of Dec 31, 2023
  • Adjustments for changes in the taxi population, expired COEs, Early Turnover Scheme for commercial vehicles and redistribution from guaranteed deregistrations for Category A, Category B and Category D.