Hawker centres are Singapore's shared kitchen. For residents, having a good one within walking distance is one of the most practical measures of a neighbourhood. NEA keeps a register of the hawker centres it oversees, with their addresses, status and number of cooked-food stalls. This article uses that register to show how hawker centres are spread across the island's five regions, which are the largest, and how the twelve neighbourhoods in our guides compare.
We count centres and stalls; we do not rate stalls or dishes. Stall counts are cooked-food stalls as recorded by NEA, so market stalls selling fresh produce are not included.
Hawker centres by region
NEA's register, read in November 2026, lists 129 hawker centres, including a few under construction. Assigning each to a URA region by its location gives:
| URA region | Hawker centres |
|---|---|
| Central Region | 71 |
| North-East Region | 20 |
| West Region | 16 |
| East Region | 15 |
| North Region | 7 |
More than half of all hawker centres are in the Central Region, which includes the city centre and older towns such as Bukit Merah, Queenstown and Kallang.
The largest hawker centres
By cooked-food stalls, the largest centres on NEA's register are:
| Hawker centre | Planning area | Cooked-food stalls |
|---|---|---|
| Chinatown Complex Market (335 Smith Street) | Outram | 226 |
| Old Airport Road Food Centre (51 Old Airport Road) | Geylang | 168 |
| Amoy Street Food Centre (7 Maxwell Road) | Downtown Core | 134 |
| Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre (3 Yung Sheng Road) | Jurong West | 122 |
| Tekka Centre (665 Buffalo Road) | Rochor | 119 |
| Golden Mile Food Centre (505 Beach Road) | Kallang | 112 |
| Circuit Road Blk 79/79A | Geylang | 106 |
| Hong Lim Food Centre and Market (531A Upper Cross Street) | Outram | 103 |
| Maxwell Food Centre (1 Kadayanallur Street) | Downtown Core | 103 |
| Redhill Food Centre (85 Redhill Lane) | Bukit Merah | 96 |
| ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre (6 Jalan Bukit Merah) | Bukit Merah | 96 |
Five of the largest eleven are in three neighbourhoods we cover with full guides: Amoy Street and Maxwell in the Downtown Core, Tekka Centre in Rochor, and Redhill and ABC Brickworks in Bukit Merah.
The largest in each region
- Central: Chinatown Complex Market (226 stalls), Old Airport Road Food Centre (168) and Amoy Street Food Centre (134).
- West: Taman Jurong Market and Food Centre (122), Ayer Rajah Food Centre in Clementi (80) and Boon Lay Place Market and Food Village (72).
- North-East: Kovan Hougang Market and Food Centre (66), Ang Mo Kio 628 Market in Ang Mo Kio (52) and Hougang 105 Hainanese Village Centre (51).
- North: Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre (70), Chong Pang Hawker Centre and Market in Yishun (58, under construction) and Chong Pang Market and Food Centre (56).
- East: Changi Village (87), Bedok North Street 1 Blk 216 (82) and Fengshan Centre at Bedok North Street 4 (72).
How our twelve neighbourhoods compare
| Neighbourhood | Hawker centres on NEA's register | Largest by stalls |
|---|---|---|
| Bukit Merah | 15 | Redhill Food Centre and ABC Brickworks (96 each) |
| Ang Mo Kio | 10 | Ang Mo Kio 628 Market (52) |
| Queenstown | 9 | Ghim Moh Road Blk 20 (72) |
| Clementi | 5 | Ayer Rajah Food Centre (80) |
| Downtown Core | 3 | Amoy Street Food Centre (134) |
| Rochor | 3 | Tekka Centre (119) |
| Marine Parade | 3 | Marine Parade Central (55) |
| Tampines | 3 | Tampines Round Market (45) |
| Bukit Timah | 3 | Bukit Timah Market (82, under construction) |
| Bukit Panjang | 2 | Bukit Panjang and Senja (28 each) |
| Pasir Ris | 1 | Pasir Ris Central (42) |
| Southern Islands | 0 | none |
Counts include market blocks and centres under construction where NEA lists them.
Hawker centres per resident
Raw counts favour large towns, so it helps to divide by population. Using the 2020 Census resident counts and NEA's register:
| Neighbourhood | Residents (2020) | Hawker centres | Residents per centre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bukit Merah | 151,250 | 15 | about 10,100 |
| Queenstown | 95,930 | 9 | about 10,700 |
| Marine Parade | 46,220 | 3 | about 15,400 |
| Ang Mo Kio | 162,280 | 10 | about 16,200 |
| Clementi | 91,990 | 5 | about 18,400 |
| Bukit Timah | 77,860 | 3 | about 26,000 |
| Bukit Panjang | 138,270 | 2 | about 69,100 |
| Tampines | 259,900 | 3 | about 86,600 |
| Pasir Ris | 147,110 | 1 | about 147,100 |
On this measure, Bukit Merah and Queenstown have a hawker centre for roughly every 10,000 residents, while Tampines has one for roughly every 87,000 and Pasir Ris a single centre for its 147,000 residents. The Downtown Core and Rochor are left out of the table because their small resident populations make the ratio misleading.
A ratio is not the whole story. A new centre with 42 stalls can serve more people than an old one with 20, and coffee shops and food courts also feed residents. But as a first filter for a household that eats out often, it is a useful number.
What NEA's status labels mean
NEA's register gives each centre a status. In November 2026 it listed 103 centres as "Existing", 16 as "Existing (new)", three as "Existing (replacement)", one as an "Interim Centre" and six as "Under Construction". New centres are additions to the network; replacement centres rebuild an older centre; the interim centre houses stallholders while their permanent centre is rebuilt, as at Bukit Timah.
Reading the numbers
Older central towns are hawker-rich. Bukit Merah, Ang Mo Kio and Queenstown together have 34 centres on NEA's list.
Newer and outer towns have fewer, newer centres. Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris have one or two centres each, all built from 2015 onwards. Our new hawker centres article lists the centres NEA has opened and is building.
The city has a few very large centres. The Downtown Core and Rochor have only three centres each, but they include some of the largest on NEA's register. Our city hawker centres guide covers them.
Using hawker access when choosing a home
- Find the nearest centre to the specific home, not just the planning area.
- Check what is under construction. NEA lists estimated completion years for new centres.
- Visit at mealtimes. A centre's size tells you capacity, not how busy it gets at lunch or dinner.
A note on what is not counted
NEA's register covers the hawker centres it oversees. It does not include coffee shops in HDB blocks, food courts in malls or private food halls. A town with few hawker centres on the register may still have many places to eat. The register is still the best single measure of the public hawker network.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the largest hawker centre in Singapore?
By cooked-food stalls on NEA's register, Chinatown Complex Market at 335 Smith Street, with 226.
Which region has the most hawker centres?
The Central Region, with 71 of the 129 on NEA's register.
Which of your neighbourhoods has the most hawker centres?
Bukit Merah, with fifteen on NEA's register.
Does Sentosa have a hawker centre?
NEA lists none in the Southern Islands planning area.
How many hawker centres are in the North Region?
Seven on NEA's register, the fewest of the five URA regions.
How many hawker centres are in the Central Region?
NEA's register places 71 there, more than in the other four regions combined.
Which region has the fewest hawker centres?
The North Region, with seven.
Which neighbourhood in your guides has only one hawker centre?
Pasir Ris, with Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre and its 42 cooked-food stalls. Sentosa Cove has none.
Does Bukit Panjang have a hawker centre?
Two: Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre, completed in 2015, and Senja Hawker Centre, completed in 2022, each with 28 cooked-food stalls.
Sources
- National Environment Agency, Hawker Centres (data.gov.sg): names, addresses, status and cooked-food stall counts, assigned to planning areas and regions using URA Master Plan 2019 boundaries.