Real wages in Singapore grew by 0.4% in 2023, mirroring the growth seen in 2022. Meanwhile, nominal total wages, which do not account for inflation, increased by 5.2% last year, a slowdown compared to the 6.5% growth recorded in 2022.
Wages in Singapore grew by 0.4% in 2023 after accounting for inflation, maintaining the same rate of growth as in 2022, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Tuesday (Jun 25). In 2021, real wages saw a 1.6% increase. However, aside from that slight uptick, real wage growth has been on a downward trend since 2018.
Nominal total wages of full-time resident employees who had been with the same employer for at least one year grew by 5.2% last year, a slower pace compared to the 6.5% increase in 2022. Despite the slowdown, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) noted that nominal total wage growth remained higher than the range typically seen in non-recessionary years. It is important to note that nominal wage growth does not account for inflation, and it reached its highest level in a decade in 2022.
All industries and all types of employees experienced wage growth last year, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). However, the ministry pointed out that the increases were smaller than those in the previous year. Specifically, senior management employees saw a wage growth of 4.6%, while rank-and-file and junior management employees experienced wage growth of 4.8% and 6.3%, respectively.
In terms of industries, most experienced lower wage growth than the previous year, with the exception of administrative and support services, where wages grew faster due to the Progressive Wage Model, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reported.
Despite more than eight in 10 firms being profitable last year, profitability was impacted by slower economic growth. Consequently, fewer firms granted wage increases to their employees, with the proportion declining from 72.2% in 2022 to 65.6% in 2023.
Additionally, 6.5% of establishments cut wages, while 27.9% held wages steady. Among the firms that raised wages, the average increase was 7.2% last year, compared to 7.9% in 2022. For firms that reduced wages, the average decrease was 6.2% in 2023, larger than the 4.5% decrease reported the previous year.
Mr. Ang Boon Heng, director of Manpower Research and Statistics at MOM, attributed the decline in wages mainly to a reduction in bonuses. He mentioned, “The bonus component is reduced because it links back to the economy again, which is doing okay, but not as well as before.” Conversely, the increase in wages was more evident in basic wages.
