SINGAPORE, Nov. 8 -- Singapore's 2026 haze episode has cost its economy an estimated S$2.32 billion (RM7.34 billion), exceeding the inflation-adjusted cost of the 2015 crisis despite fewer hazy days and lower average pollution levels, according to a preliminary assessment by two university researchers.

The estimated losses as at October 31 were about 4 per cent higher than the inflation-adjusted S$2.23 billion estimated for 2015, Singapore's The Business Times reported.

The assessment, by Nanyang Technological University's Euston Quah and Singapore University of Social Sciences' Eugene Or, attributed the higher cost to population growth, rising incomes, increased visitor spending and a greater estimated health burden.

Health-related co...