Slower income growth and a decrease in own-account workers in 2023
In 2023, Singapore’s median income experienced a 2.2% decline in real terms, marking a slowdown in income growth compared to previous years. According to the Ministry of Manpower’s annual Labour Force report, the median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents increased by 2.5% year on year, reaching S$5,197. However, this growth rate was slower than the 3.4% annual average from 2013 to 2023.
At the 20th percentile, income was S$2,826, reflecting slower nominal growth of 1.7% compared to the 4.1% annual growth observed from 2013 to 2023. When adjusted for inflation, the real income at the 20th percentile fell by 3% year on year. The decline in real incomes has tempered overall income gains in the past five years, with real incomes rising just 0.5% per year at the median from 2018 to 2023.
Additionally, the number of own-account workers, particularly primary own-account workers (such as private-hire car drivers), showed a decline in 2023. This group had seen an increase in numbers due to the pandemic but decreased from 202,700 in 2022 to 187,800 in 2023, the lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic. Secondary own-account workers (those doing freelance work part-time) also fell to 34,000, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
As the labour market cooled from exceptionally tight conditions in 2022, the employment rate also declined slightly to 66.2% in 2023, down from a record high of 67.5% in 2022. Despite this, unemployment rates remained low, with the drop attributed more to a decrease in labour force participation than to job-seeking difficulties.
