10% real income growth last 5 years
According to the Straits Times front page headlines news report “PM calls for productivity push amid muted growth” (Jan 1) – “Overall, Singapore is in a better position than many nations. For instance, its real median incomes rose 10 per cent in the last five years, unlike stagnant wages in many developed countries.” – Actually, the real median income growth (excluding employer CPF contribution) in the last 12 months to June was a negative at -0.6 per cent. This figure is shown as “n.a.” in the MOM report, but it was calculated from the data in the report.
Real income growth negative -0.6% last 12 months
Although table 2 on page 11 in the MOM’s Singapore Workforce 2014 report only shows the real income growth (including employer CPF contribution), without the statistics for “excluding employer CPF contribution” – it can be calculated from the data on page 10.
Real income growth 1.3% p.a. last 5 years
Since the gross monthly income (excluding employer CPF) increased by 26 per cent from $2,600 in 2009 to $3,276 in 2014 – after adjusting for inflation of 19.1 per cent – the real income growth for the last five years was only 6.9 per cent. This is only 1.3 per cent per annum.
If you earned $2,000 five years ago, your real income only increased by $26 a year in the last five years.
Since the median is for half the population – a lot of workers had a lower or negative income increase than 1.3 per cent.
Although the MOM does not publish a summary table of the eight major occupational categories anymore – we can use the MOM wage benchmarking tool to extract the data one by one – and compare it with the old data that is still on the internet.
Real basic wage growth negative or near zero last 14 years
For the last 14 years from 1999 to 2013 – the real basic wage growth was negative for 5 of the 8 job categories; and only grew by 0.2 to 0.7% per annum for the other 3 categories.
Real total wage growth negative for 5 years
According to the latest available published statistics from the MOM web site - the real annual total wage change (excluding employer CPF contribution) from 2008 to 2012, was -2.4, -1.0, 2.7, 0.1 and -0.8 respectively.
This is a cumulative real decrease in total wage change of about -1.5 per cent or -0.3 per cent per annum for the 5 years.
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TRS Contributor