Newly-defined Singapore median household market income up 6.8% in real terms

[SINGAPORE] Median household market income grew 6.8 per cent in real terms in 2025, in the first such calculation under the Department of Statistics’ (SingStat) expanded definition capturing non-employment sources of income.

Previously, only household employment income was measured in the annual report. From this year, SingStat will also use the concept of “market income”, which includes non-employment sources such as rental income, investment income, annuity and Central Provident Fund (CPF) payouts.

Household coverage will therefore now include non-employed households – referring to those with no employed person – alongside employed households – referring to those with at least one employed person.

SingStat said the change reflects Singapore’s ageing population, where a growing proportion of households comprise only non-employed persons aged 65 and over who may not have employment income but receive income from rent, investments and annuities.

“The expanded coverage therefore enables a more comprehensive analysis of household income trends,” it said in a statement on Monday (Feb 9).

Rises across income groups

Median monthly household market income rose 7.7 per cent in nominal terms to S$12,446 in 2025, from S$11,558 in 2024.

Accounting for household size, median monthly household market income per household member rose 8.4 per cent in nominal terms to S$4,160 in 2025, from S$3,837 in 2024. In real terms, this was up 7.5 per cent.

Over five years from 2020 to 2025, median monthly household market income rose 17 per cent cumulatively, or 3.2 per cent per annum in real terms.

Average monthly household market income per household member rose across all income deciles in 2025, ranging from 4.2 to 13.5 per cent in nominal terms, with lower-income households seeing higher income growth. This translates to growth of 3 to 12.8 per cent in real terms.

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From 2020 to 2025, the average monthly household market income per household member among resident households rose across all income deciles by 1.4 to 10.5 per cent per annum in real terms, with higher income growth among lower-income groups.

Employment remained the main source of income, though its share of total household market income per household member fell to 79.6 per cent from 81.1 per cent in 2024.

For households in the second to 10th income deciles, employment income accounted for between 53.7 and 83.1 per cent of monthly household market income per household member.

First-decile households relied mainly on non-employment sources. Investment income – mostly interest from CPF balances – and other income such as CPF Retirement Sum Scheme and Lifelong Income For the Elderly payouts made up 40.9 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively, of their household market income per household member.

Government transfers

Resident households received an average of S$7,300 per household member in government transfers in 2025, down from S$7,725 in 2024 due to the cessation of one-off schemes introduced in 2024.

Households in Housing and Development Board one and two-room flats received the most government transfers at S$16,519 per household member, more than double the average received by all households.

Households in the first seven income deciles received more government transfers than the taxes they paid.

Separately, income inequality fell to its lowest since 2015. The Gini coefficient based on household market income per household member declined to 0.452 in 2025 from 0.46 in 2024.

After adjusting for government transfers and taxes, the Gini coefficient fell to 0.379 in 2025 – also the lowest since 2015.