Rising cost of living drives up minimum wages across Asean

THE minimum wage is climbing upwards across much of South-east Asia – in line with workers’ broader calls for higher pay, as the cost of living mounts worldwide.

“Sustained inflationary pressure is driving wage growth across the region as households and workers acutely feel the pinch in the erosion of real purchasing power,” Selena Ling, chief economist at OCBC, told The Business Times.

She noted that the South-east Asian economies with minimum wages in place – which make up almost all of Asean, except for Singapore and Brunei – “have seen growing demand for higher or faster wage adjustments to try and keep pace with inflation, especially after the last 2 to 3 years during the pandemic, when wages stagnated”.