SINGAPORE’S median income fell 2.2 per cent in real terms in 2023 as nominal income growth slowed, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) annual Labour Force in Singapore report on Wednesday (Jan 31).

The median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents rose 2.5 per cent year on year (yoy) to S$5,197, up from S$5,070 in 2022. This growth was lower than the annualised average rate of increase of 3.4 per cent from 2013 to 2023.

Income at the 20th percentile was S$2,826, with slower nominal growth of 1.7 per cent, compared to 4.1 per cent per annum from 2013 to 2023. In real terms, income at the 20th percentile fell 3 per cent yoy, or 2 per cent after including the Workfare Income Supplement and other related payments.

Declining real incomes in 2023 have dampened overall gains in the last five years, noted MOM. From 2018 to 2023, real incomes rose 0.5 per cent per annum at the median, and 1.1 per cent per annum at the 20th percentile.

This is much slower than the preceding five years, when real incomes rose 3.5 per cent per annum at the median, and 4.2 per cent per annum at the 20th percentile.

Still, the gap between incomes at the median and the 20th percentile has continued to narrow over the last decade, as real income growth at the bottom outpaces that of the median, said MOM.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

For full-time employed degree holders, median income was unchanged at S$8,190 in 2023 – but has declined 0.8 per cent per annum in real terms from 2018 to 2023, which MOM attributed to higher inflation and the Covid-19 recession.

Over the last decade, however, median incomes of these workers still grew 0.9 per cent per annum in real terms.

As the labour market cooled from “exceptionally tight” conditions in 2022, the employment rate also declined in 2023, to 66.2 per cent. This was down from a record high of 67.5 per cent in 2022.

This decline was due more to lower labour force participation – that is, more residents staying out of the labour force – than difficulties with seeking employment, said MOM, noting that unemployment rates stayed low.

Labour force participation peaked at 70.5 per cent in 2021 when more workers filled short-term pandemic-related jobs such as temperature screeners and safe distancing ambassadors. It has since eased to 68.6 per cent in 2023 – though this is still above pre-pandemic rates.

The pandemic also led to a rise in primary own-account workers, with private-hire car drivers being the most common such occupation since 2020.

The number of regular primary own-account workers has been rising since 2019, reaching a high of 202,700 in 2022. In 2023, this declined to 187,800, the lowest level since Covid-19.

Secondary own-account workers – those who did own-account work on the side – fell to 34,000 in 2023, comparable to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.