Disclaimer: Unless otherwise stated, any opinions expressed below belong solely to the author. Data sourced from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower.
The Ministry of Manpower has updated its quarterly average income figures for the Singapore labour market.
Crucially, it is the mean, not the median, so the figure is slightly higher, as it is skewed by the high-income earners (but is reported more frequently, providing an insight into the evolving employment situation). For reference, the median reported for mid-2024 (published in January 2025) is S$5,500.
Nevertheless, what the mean allows us to track is the general evolution of incomes in Singapore, as they are all aggregated together and divided by the number of currently employed residents (that is, citizens and PRs).
Highest growth on record*
As you can see, the incomes have recorded quite a jump in the first two quarters of the year. However, I have to add an asterisk (*) there, as the “record” only extends four years back. MOM simply did not publish the mean figure in earlier years.
Nevertheless, at 5.25% within this time frame, it is the highest six-month growth registered, which is notable as it comes after the post-pandemic rebound, as well as the subsequent period of high inflation (which usually artificially pushes employment pay up). This means that real incomes are receiving a boost now.
After a gradual slowdown in 2024, Singaporeans are finally receiving a boost in salaries that is outpacing the now very low inflation quite considerably.
It is also a good sign for those who felt left behind in recent years. After all, statistics are usually just average figures. For every person who received good bonuses and pay raises, there’s another who did not, or had them eaten up by rising prices.
Now, as the inflation crisis has been extinguished, they can hope to see their salaries catch up to where they should be. Meanwhile, more optimistic macroeconomic data, anticipating GDP growth of 2.4 % this year, should encourage employers to be generous in the second half of the year as well.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s job trends here.
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