What Singapore Googled, year by year
A football tournament was Singapore's top Google search in 4 of the 9 years Google published a list. An iPhone made the top 10 in 6 of them, and sport made it in every one. Pick a year, 2016 to 2025, to see Google's top 10 searches for Singapore.
Pick a year
Google says these lists show the searches that grew the most compared with the year before, not the ones searched most overall. Google did not publish an overall list for 2023.
The ten for 2025
Google's top 10 searches in Singapore in 2025, from #1 to #10. Each card also shows how we sort the search, and other years it made the top 10.
- 1DeepSeekApps and games
- 2Charlie KirkNews and world
- 3Mortgage quoteMoney and vouchers
- 4COPD treatmentHealth
- 5Osteoporosis treatmentHealth
- 6SG60 voucherMoney and vouchersA voucher: also in the top 10 in 2022 and 2024
- 7iPhone 17PhonesiPhone: also in the top 10 in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022
- 8Barbie HsuFilm, TV and music
- 9Donald TrumpNews and worldDonald Trump: also in the top 10 in 2016
- 10Asia Cup 2025Sport
By type in 2025: News and world 2, Money and vouchers 2, Health 2, Sport 1, Phones 1, Film, TV and music 1, Apps and games 1.
What keeps coming back
Six things that showed up again and again. Each box is a year, from 2016 to 2025. A coloured box means it made the top 10 that year, and the dashed box is 2023, which has no list.
Sport
9 of 9 yearsBetween 1 and 5 of the ten searches each year. Most in 2021 (5), fewest in 2022 and 2025 (1 each). The number in a box is how many.
Counted: any sport in the top 10
A football tournament at #1
4 of 9 years- 2016 Euro 2016 #1
- 2018 World Cup #1
- 2021 UEFA Euro 2021 #1
- 2024 UEFA Euro 2024 #1
Counted: only when it was the #1 search
An iPhone
6 of 9 years- 2016 iPhone 7 #5
- 2017 iPhone 8 #2
- 2017 iPhone X #3
- 2019 iPhone 11 #5
- 2021 iPhone 13 #9
- 2022 iPhone 14 #6
- 2025 iPhone 17 #7
Counted: any iPhone model
A US election
3 of 9 years- 2016 US Elections #3
- 2020 US Election 2020 #1
- 2024 US Elections 2024 #2
Counted: US Elections or US Election in the name
COVID-19
3 of 9 years- 2020 Coronavirus #3
- 2021 COVID-19 Prevention #7
- 2022 COVID-19 Cases Singapore #8
Counted: Coronavirus or COVID-19 in the name
A voucher
3 of 9 years- 2022 GST Voucher 2022 #9
- 2024 CDC Vouchers #5
- 2025 SG60 voucher #6
Counted: voucher in the name
Sport made the top 10 in all 9 years. A football tournament was #1 in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2024. An iPhone made it in 6 years (2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025). 2023 has no list, so it is left out of every count.
What kind of search was it?
We put each of the 90 searches into one of 9 types, going by its name. A longer bar means more of the 90. The sorting is ours, not Google's.
- Sport23 of 90Such as Euro 2016, Joseph Schooling, Wimbledon, SEA Games
- News and world19 of 90Such as US Elections, Brexit, Donald Trump, Malaysia Elections
- Film, TV and music18 of 90Such as Descendants of the Sun, Deadpool, Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast
- Apps and games8 of 90Such as Pokemon Go, Sgpokemap, Student Learning Space (SLS), Google Classroom
- Phones7 of 90Such as iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11
- Money and vouchers5 of 90Such as Bitcoin Price, GST Voucher 2022, CDC Vouchers, Mortgage quote
- Health5 of 90Such as Coronavirus, COVID-19 Prevention, COVID-19 Cases Singapore, COPD treatment
- Shopping4 of 90Such as ezbuy, Lazada Singapore, Labubu
- Travel1 of 90Such as Causeway Link
Sport had the most searches across the 9 years (23 of 90), then News and world (19) and Film, TV and music (18). Sport was biggest in 2021, with 5 of the 10.
Fun finds
The short version
A football tournament was Singapore's top Google search in 4 of the 9 years Google published a list. An iPhone made the top 10 in 6 of them, and sport made it in every one.
What we did. We opened Google Year in Search for Singapore, one page for each year from 2016 to 2025, and wrote down the overall top 10 list on each. That is 90 searches from 9 years. 2023 has no overall list on Google's page, so it stays empty. We then sorted each search into one of 9 types by its name, and counted which kinds of search came back.
What we found. The #1 search was Euro 2016 (2016), Sgpokemap (2017), World Cup (2018), Singapore Haze (2019), US Election 2020 (2020), UEFA Euro 2021 (2021), Wordle (2022), UEFA Euro 2024 (2024) and DeepSeek (2025). A football tournament was #1 in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2024, and sport was in the top 10 in all 9 lists. An iPhone made the top 10 in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025. A US election was in the top 3 in 2016, 2020 and 2024. COVID-19 searches were in the lists for 2020, 2021 and 2022. A voucher first appeared in 2022 and was there again in 2024 and 2025.
What to keep in mind. Google ranks by how much a search grew compared with the year before, not by how many people searched, so a list shows what jumped. The type of each search is our sorting. A search being on a list says nothing about why people looked it up.
By Ben (opens in a new tab). Updated . Data: Google Year in Search (Google Trends), Singapore, 2016 to 2025, read 14 Oct 2026.
Questions people ask
What was the top Google search in Singapore each year?
By Google Year in Search: 2016 Euro 2016; 2017 Sgpokemap; 2018 World Cup; 2019 Singapore Haze; 2020 US Election 2020; 2021 UEFA Euro 2021; 2022 Wordle; 2023 not published; 2024 UEFA Euro 2024; 2025 DeepSeek. Google did not publish an overall list for 2023.
What was the top Google search in Singapore in 2025?
DeepSeek, then Charlie Kirk, Mortgage quote, COPD treatment and Osteoporosis treatment. SG60 voucher was sixth, iPhone 17 seventh, Barbie Hsu eighth, Donald Trump ninth and Asia Cup 2025 tenth.
Are these the things Singapore searched for the most?
Not quite. Google says its Year in Search lists show the searches that grew the most compared with the year before, not the ones searched most overall. A search that is big every year, like the weather, can stay off the list because it did not jump.
Why is there no list for 2023?
Google's 2023 page for Singapore shows only lists by category, such as Singapore news and how-tos, and no overall top 10. We did not fill the gap from another source, so 2023 is left out of every count.
Did a football tournament really top the list that often?
Yes, in 4 of the 9 years: 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2024. The #1 searches were Euro 2016, World Cup, UEFA Euro 2021 and UEFA Euro 2024.
Which years had an iPhone in the top 10?
2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025: 6 of the 9 years. The models were iPhone 7 (2016), iPhone 8 (2017), iPhone X (2017), iPhone 11 (2019), iPhone 13 (2021), iPhone 14 (2022), iPhone 17 (2025). In 2017 two iPhones made the top 3, the iPhone 8 at #2 and the iPhone X at #3.
Which year had the most sport?
2021, with 5 of the 10 searches about sport (UEFA Euro 2021, NBA League, IPL 2021, English Premier League and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games). Sport was in the top 10 in all 9 years, from just 1 in 2022 and 2025 up to 5 in 2021.
When did vouchers start to show up?
In 2022, with GST Voucher 2022 at #9. After that came CDC Vouchers at #5 in 2024 and SG60 voucher at #6 in 2025. No voucher is in the lists for 2016 to 2021.
Is the 2024 list for Singapore?
Google's 2024 address is the Singapore one (year-in-search/2024/sg), but the list on the page is not labelled as Singapore's. Time Out Singapore lists the same top three for Singapore, so we use it.
How do you sort the searches into types?
By the name of the search, into 9 types: Sport, Phones, Film, TV and music, News and world, Apps and games, Money and vouchers, Health, Shopping and Travel. The sorting is ours, not Google's. Some are judgement calls: Coronavirus and COVID-19 are under Health, people are under the field they are known for, and royal and election news is under News and world.
Where does the data come from?
From Google Year in Search for Singapore, one page for each year from 2016 to 2025, read on 14 Oct 2026. Every address is in the boring bit below.
The numbers behind it
| Rank | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Euro 2016 | Sgpokemap | World Cup | Singapore Haze | US Election 2020 | UEFA Euro 2021 | Wordle | Not published | UEFA Euro 2024 | DeepSeek |
| 2 | Pokemon Go | iPhone 8 | Malaysia Elections | Hong Kong Protests | Student Learning Space (SLS) | NBA League | Ukraine | Not published | US Elections 2024 | Charlie Kirk |
| 3 | US Elections | iPhone X | Australian Open 2018 | Avengers Endgame | Coronavirus | IPL 2021 | Causeway Link | Not published | Olympics 2024 | Mortgage quote |
| 4 | Joseph Schooling | Wonder Woman | Najib Razak | Captain Marvel | Google Classroom | English Premier League | Queen Elizabeth | Not published | Taylor Swift | COPD treatment |
| 5 | iPhone 7 | Beauty and the Beast | Stan Lee | iPhone 11 | Zoom | Squid Game | Australian Open | Not published | CDC Vouchers | Osteoporosis treatment |
| 6 | Descendants of the Sun | Wimbledon | Thai cave rescue | ICC World Cup 2019 | NBA | 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games | iPhone 14 | Not published | How to make millions before Grandma dies | SG60 voucher |
| 7 | Brexit | SEA Games | Black Panther | Fall of the Berlin Wall | Google Meet | COVID-19 Prevention | Shinzo Abe | Not published | Copa America | iPhone 17 |
| 8 | Donald Trump | Justice League | Trump-Kim Summit | Wimbledon 2019 | Joe Biden | Bitcoin Price | COVID-19 Cases Singapore | Not published | AFC Asian Cup | Barbie Hsu |
| 9 | ezbuy | Lazada Singapore | Meghan Markle | Joker | Kobe Bryant | iPhone 13 | GST Voucher 2022 | Not published | Liam Payne | Donald Trump |
| 10 | Deadpool | ezbuy | Avengers: Infinity War | Australian Open | English Premier League | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Thor Love and Thunder | Not published | Labubu | Asia Cup 2025 |
| Year | Sport | Phones | Film, TV and music | News and world | Apps and games | Money and vouchers | Health | Shopping | Travel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| All years | 23 | 7 | 18 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Kind of search | Years | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| Sport | 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 | Euro 2016 (2016, #1); Joseph Schooling (2016, #4); Wimbledon (2017, #6); SEA Games (2017, #7); World Cup (2018, #1); Australian Open 2018 (2018, #3); ICC World Cup 2019 (2019, #6); Wimbledon 2019 (2019, #8); Australian Open (2019, #10); NBA (2020, #6); Kobe Bryant (2020, #9); English Premier League (2020, #10); UEFA Euro 2021 (2021, #1); NBA League (2021, #2); IPL 2021 (2021, #3); English Premier League (2021, #4); 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (2021, #6); Australian Open (2022, #5); UEFA Euro 2024 (2024, #1); Olympics 2024 (2024, #3); Copa America (2024, #7); AFC Asian Cup (2024, #8); Asia Cup 2025 (2025, #10) |
| A football tournament at #1 | 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2024 | Euro 2016 (2016, #1); World Cup (2018, #1); UEFA Euro 2021 (2021, #1); UEFA Euro 2024 (2024, #1) |
| An iPhone | 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025 | iPhone 7 (2016, #5); iPhone 8 (2017, #2); iPhone X (2017, #3); iPhone 11 (2019, #5); iPhone 13 (2021, #9); iPhone 14 (2022, #6); iPhone 17 (2025, #7) |
| A US election | 2016, 2020 and 2024 | US Elections (2016, #3); US Election 2020 (2020, #1); US Elections 2024 (2024, #2) |
| COVID-19 | 2020, 2021 and 2022 | Coronavirus (2020, #3); COVID-19 Prevention (2021, #7); COVID-19 Cases Singapore (2022, #8) |
| A voucher | 2022, 2024 and 2025 | GST Voucher 2022 (2022, #9); CDC Vouchers (2024, #5); SG60 voucher (2025, #6) |
The boring bit
Where the data comes from
Google Year in Search for Singapore (Google Trends), one page for each year, read on 14 Oct 2026. On each page we took the overall list of ten searches, in the order Google shows them. The pages are called different things by year, and we used the overall list each time:
- 2016 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Top Searches in 2016")
- 2017 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Top Trending Searches")
- 2018 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Top Trending Searches")
- 2019 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Trending Searches")
- 2020 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Trending Searches")
- 2021 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Trending Searches")
- 2022 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Trending Searches")
- 2023 (opens in a new tab) (shows category lists only, no overall list)
- 2024 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Searches"; its top three, UEFA Euro 2024, US Elections 2024 and Olympics 2024, match Time Out Singapore's of 11 Dec 2024 (opens in a new tab))
- 2025 (opens in a new tab) (list called "Searches")
What is not claimed
- These are not the most searched words. Google says the lists are the searches that grew the most compared with the year before, so a search that is big every year can be missing.
- We do not say why a search was on a list, or what any of them meant. The names are as Google writes them, with its spelling.
- 2023 has no overall list on Google's page for Singapore, only lists by category. We did not borrow a ranking from anywhere else, so 2023 is left out of every count. The counts are out of 9 years, not 10.
- For 2017, Google's page lists Sgpokemap first. One news site named Pokemon Go as #1. We use Google's page.
- Google's 2016 page calls its list "Top Searches in 2016". Later pages say "Trending Searches" or "Searches". We treat them all as the overall list for the year. The 2024 page does not label its list as Singapore's, although the address is the Singapore one.
- The types are our sorting, by name, into 9 groups. Some are judgement calls: Coronavirus and COVID-19 are under Health, people are under the field they are known for (Kobe Bryant under Sport, Stan Lee, Taylor Swift, Liam Payne and Barbie Hsu under Film, TV and music), and election and royal news is under News and world. A different sorting would move some counts.
- "Kind of search" rows (football tournament, iPhone, US election, COVID-19, voucher) are matched by the words in the name, as listed under the table above.
- We did not look at search volume, search terms behind a name, or any other country.
Coverage
9 years with a list (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025), ten searches each, 90 in all. One year has no list (2023).
Report an error. Corrections are logged publicly with a date.
How we did it
- Opened the Google Year in Search page for Singapore for each year, 2016 to 2025.
- Wrote down the overall list of ten, in order, with the name as Google spells it.
- Sorted each search into one of 9 types by its name.
- Counted by type and year, and matched the repeat searches (football tournaments, iPhone, US election, COVID-19, voucher) by words in the name.
- Recounted every number with the script below, which holds the lists as typed.
Show the Python code
"""check_page_facts.py - holds the ten lists exactly as typed from Google's pages and recounts every number the page prints.
Run: python3 -I check_page_facts.py (standard library only; stops with an error if a count differs)"""
S = "Sport"
LISTS = {
2016: [("Euro 2016", "Sport"), ("Pokemon Go", "Apps and games"), ("US Elections", "News and world"), ("Joseph Schooling", "Sport"), ("iPhone 7", "Phones"), ("Descendants of the Sun", "Film, TV and music"), ("Brexit", "News and world"), ("Donald Trump", "News and world"), ("ezbuy", "Shopping"), ("Deadpool", "Film, TV and music")],
2017: [("Sgpokemap", "Apps and games"), ("iPhone 8", "Phones"), ("iPhone X", "Phones"), ("Wonder Woman", "Film, TV and music"), ("Beauty and the Beast", "Film, TV and music"), ("Wimbledon", "Sport"), ("SEA Games", "Sport"), ("Justice League", "Film, TV and music"), ("Lazada Singapore", "Shopping"), ("ezbuy", "Shopping")],
2018: [("World Cup", "Sport"), ("Malaysia Elections", "News and world"), ("Australian Open 2018", "Sport"), ("Najib Razak", "News and world"), ("Stan Lee", "Film, TV and music"), ("Thai cave rescue", "News and world"), ("Black Panther", "Film, TV and music"), ("Trump-Kim Summit", "News and world"), ("Meghan Markle", "News and world"), ("Avengers: Infinity War", "Film, TV and music")],
2019: [("Singapore Haze", "News and world"), ("Hong Kong Protests", "News and world"), ("Avengers Endgame", "Film, TV and music"), ("Captain Marvel", "Film, TV and music"), ("iPhone 11", "Phones"), ("ICC World Cup 2019", "Sport"), ("Fall of the Berlin Wall", "News and world"), ("Wimbledon 2019", "Sport"), ("Joker", "Film, TV and music"), ("Australian Open", "Sport")],
2020: [("US Election 2020", "News and world"), ("Student Learning Space (SLS)", "Apps and games"), ("Coronavirus", "Health"), ("Google Classroom", "Apps and games"), ("Zoom", "Apps and games"), ("NBA", "Sport"), ("Google Meet", "Apps and games"), ("Joe Biden", "News and world"), ("Kobe Bryant", "Sport"), ("English Premier League", "Sport")],
2021: [("UEFA Euro 2021", "Sport"), ("NBA League", "Sport"), ("IPL 2021", "Sport"), ("English Premier League", "Sport"), ("Squid Game", "Film, TV and music"), ("2020 Tokyo Olympic Games", "Sport"), ("COVID-19 Prevention", "Health"), ("Bitcoin Price", "Money and vouchers"), ("iPhone 13", "Phones"), ("Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "Film, TV and music")],
2022: [("Wordle", "Apps and games"), ("Ukraine", "News and world"), ("Causeway Link", "Travel"), ("Queen Elizabeth", "News and world"), ("Australian Open", "Sport"), ("iPhone 14", "Phones"), ("Shinzo Abe", "News and world"), ("COVID-19 Cases Singapore", "Health"), ("GST Voucher 2022", "Money and vouchers"), ("Thor Love and Thunder", "Film, TV and music")],
2024: [("UEFA Euro 2024", "Sport"), ("US Elections 2024", "News and world"), ("Olympics 2024", "Sport"), ("Taylor Swift", "Film, TV and music"), ("CDC Vouchers", "Money and vouchers"), ("How to make millions before Grandma dies", "Film, TV and music"), ("Copa America", "Sport"), ("AFC Asian Cup", "Sport"), ("Liam Payne", "Film, TV and music"), ("Labubu", "Shopping")],
2025: [("DeepSeek", "Apps and games"), ("Charlie Kirk", "News and world"), ("Mortgage quote", "Money and vouchers"), ("COPD treatment", "Health"), ("Osteoporosis treatment", "Health"), ("SG60 voucher", "Money and vouchers"), ("iPhone 17", "Phones"), ("Barbie Hsu", "Film, TV and music"), ("Donald Trump", "News and world"), ("Asia Cup 2025", "Sport")],
}
FOOT = {"Euro 2016", "World Cup", "UEFA Euro 2021", "UEFA Euro 2024"} # football tournaments that were #1
years = sorted(LISTS) # the 9 years with a list (2023 has none)
assert len(years) == 9 and all(len(v) == 10 for v in LISTS.values())
sport = {y: sum(1 for n, c in v if c == S) for y, v in LISTS.items()}
print("entries", sum(len(v) for v in LISTS.values()))
print("sport in every listed year:", all(sport[y] > 0 for y in years), sport)
print("football tournament at #1:", [y for y in years if LISTS[y][0][0] in FOOT])
print("an iPhone in the top 10:", [y for y in years if any(n.startswith("iPhone") for n, c in LISTS[y])])
print("a US election:", [y for y in years if any(n.startswith("US Election") for n, c in LISTS[y])])
print("a voucher:", [y for y in years if any("oucher" in n for n, c in LISTS[y])])
by_type = {}
for v in LISTS.values():
for n, c in v:
by_type[c] = by_type.get(c, 0) + 1
print("by type:", dict(sorted(by_type.items(), key=lambda kv: -kv[1])))
What could make it wrong: a name copied wrongly from Google's page, a list that Google changed after we read it, or a search sorted into a type you would not choose. As a check, the script recounts the totals (90 searches in 9 lists) and the sport, football, iPhone, US election and voucher counts printed on this page.
No machine learning was needed. The question was "what was on the list, and what came back", which counting answers directly.
Source: Google Year in Search (Google Trends), Singapore, 2016 to 2025, read 14 Oct 2026. The names and ranks are Google's; the sorting into types and the counts are ours.