Singaporeans’ Gross Monthly Income 2009 to 2019 – Check Out Which Percentile You Belong To!

MOM released data this month for Gross monthly salary excluding employer CPF contribution recorded from 2009 to June 2019.
This is out of a population of 2.18 Million workforce (15 years and above excluding NSF), and with data recorded in June 2019. Summary below with charts created by myself with the input of MOM data. 
2019
  • The median monthly income excluding Employer CPF contribution is SGD3,787
  • There are 141 thousand people who are at the bottom 6.5% earning less than SGD1,000 per month
  • There are 112 thousand people who belongs to the top 5.2%, earning more than SGD15,000 per month.
  • More than half of the Singaporeans are earning less than SGD4,000 per month.
  • The median monthly income including Employer CPF contribution is SGD4,563

2009 TO 2019 – LAST TEN YEARS



ROLF’S THOUGHTS

Our country’s median income including Employer’s CPF contribution has increased quite significantly over the past ten years rising 56% from SGD2,927 in 2009 to SGD4,563 in 2019. Consider Singapore inflation is below 2% p.a. averaging in the last 10 years,  that is a good sign.

Excluding Employer’s CPF contribution,

In the lower income bracket of below SGD2,500 income, there is also a drop of 19% from 2009 to 2019 i.e. from 925K people out of 1823K (51%) in 2009 to –> 704K people out of 2184K in 2019 (32%).
The not so good news is that they are still more than 30 per cent of the employed residents in the lower income bracket. This is quite a lot considering we are a first world country.
There are also 140K of people still earning less than SGD1,000 a month. Not sure how you can survive with this meagre gross income (before CPF deduction), if that is your only income and you have no savings.
Frankly, if you earn anything below SGD2,500 a month in Singapore (before employee CPF deduction), and without any other forms of income or assistance from parents, it is going to be very tough if you need to raise a family. Apparently, there are more than 20% of the working population in this group, which I reckon it is a relatively high figure.
Even at SGD3,000 with family, it will not be easy. I am surprise that there are actually 40% in this group that earns below SGD3,000 per month. 
To be honest, I am quite surprised that more than half of the population is earning less than SGD4,000. This means that it will be very difficult if you have only one sole income earner in a household. 


In another data released by Singstat, our household median income is between SGD9,000 to 9,500 (Total Wage), which means that most of the family with median income NEED to have two breadwinners. This will also mean extra expenses on FDW and childcare, and no one person can go out of job within the household. Refer also to my earlier article, how expensive it is to raise a child in Singapore.
In the higher income bracket of above SGD8,000 income (85 percentile in 2019), there is an 9% increase of people in the last decade. i.e. from 156K people out of 1823K (8.6%) in 2009 to –> 385K people out of 2184K in 2019 (17.6%). However, this amount is only same to median household income of above ~SGD8,000 (excl. employer portion of CPF) / SGD9,000 (incl. employer portion of CPF). This means that if you are the 85 percentile higher income earner, there is possibility that you just need one income earner in a household with kids. 


But….. 
Considering the property prices in Singapore is one of the highest in the world, with exorbitant car prices, the so-called high income earners in Singapore will still find life not a stroll in the park, and definitely unable to live a luxurious life. 

Related Posts

15 thoughts on “Singaporeans’ Gross Monthly Income 2009 to 2019 – Check Out Which Percentile You Belong To!

  1. Fantastic article to read together with the credit Suisse wealth report!

    A lot of people "above" me but OK lah, i'm contented. I also came from the lower percentile.

    1. Hi Kevin, I made a mistake in the earlier data of mentioning that 50% earns 6K and below. In fact it is 50% earns less than 4K and below.

      The Median income earlier I pasted is 4.56K is actually including Employer CPF Contribution. Deducting that, Median income is 3.78K instead.

      My apologies. So you are at the higher percentile. 🙂

    2. No apologies needed 😉

      We can see that we actually need different sets of data (salary vs net worth) and different perspectives to paint a full picture.

      If I'm not mistaken, MOM data is basically annual amount simply divided by 12, so one can't simply use our monthly take-home pay as comparison or it will skew the result, but instead include AWS, bonuses and other allowances etc.

      Considering that, it could mean that in some cases, the monthly take-home pay is even lower.

      The flip-side exists as well. Official data does not take into consideration side-hustling and the shadow economy. So, even when I'm making $7/hr in hostels or <$3000 in hospitality, my "real" income could be significantly higher!

    3. Hi Kevin, totally agree with u.

      Yes MoM based on Annual Salary or by Income Tax. So actual monthly salary excluding bonus or AWS is lower or in some cases car allowance which can be 4 digit per month which means basic salary is much much lower.

      Also does not incl. some biz man who reported lower personal income.

      Net worth and employed income is different. For eg Tuition Teacher may also report lower income.

      Thanks for the explanation.

  2. Hi Rolf,

    The reason why I deleted my comment is because after looking at the numbers closer, I see a picture different from my earlier comment.

    They do seem to progress made from bracket below 3k to promote to 3-4k bracket.

    But I also saw very sticky situation at the below 500 people. These group might faced some serious handicapped.

    I also wonder if these figure included workfare?

    1. Hi SI,
      I updated my post. Some mistake because of the confusion of including and excluding Employer CPF contribution.

      Median Income is much lower excl employer portion at 3.78K.

      Yes, in fact many people are still earning very little. But maybe is because they also have other income not reported.. this we do not know.

      What workfare are you referring to? I think the above figure is strictly employment income.

    1. Hi, thanks for the headsup. I made a mistake earlier because the Median income is including CPF contribution in the blue table whereas the red table is excluding employer CPF portion.

      So you are right..50% is in the 3-4K range.

      Thanks.

  3. Are you in a financial crisis, looking for money to start your own business or to pay your bills?
    GET YOUR BLANK ATM CREDIT CARD AT AFFORDABLE PRICE*
    We sell this card to all our customers and interested buyers worldwide,Tho card has a daily withdrawal limit of $5000 and up to $50,000 spending limit in stores and unlimited on POS.
    **WHAT WE OFFER**
    *1)WESTERN UNION TRANSFERS/MONEY GRAM TRANSFER*
    *2)BANKS LOGINS*
    *3)BANKS TRANSFERS*
    *4)CRYPTO CURRENCY MINNING*.
    *5)BUYING OF GIFT CARDS*,
    *6)LOADING OF ACCOUNTS*
    *7)WALMART TRANSFERS*
    *8)BITCOIN INVESTMENTS*
    *9)REMOVING OF NAME FROM DEBIT RECORD AND CRIMINAL RECORD*
    *10)BANK HACKING**11) BINARY TRADE/ ACCURATE SIGNALS
    email [email protected]
    you can also call or whatsapp us Contact us today for more enlightenment

      +1 (854) 203-2224   
    WE ARE REAL AND LEGIT………..2019 FUNDS/FORGET ABOUT GETTING A LOAN..

    IT HAS BEEN TESTED AND TRUSTED

    whatsapp only ===>>   +1 (854) 203-2224  
    Cheap as $200

  4. Wenn Sie wirklich die beste Medizin finden wollen. das kann Ihnen helfen, das genitalorgan zu erhöhen, dann würde ich Ihnen sehr raten, hier zu versuchen nützliche Referenz, da immenno hier bekomme ich immer gute Tabletten zu finden

  5. Natural herbs have cured so many illness that drugs and injection can’t cure. I've seen the great importance of natural herbs and the wonderful work they have done in people's lives. i read people's testimonies online on how they were cured of HERPES, HIV, diabetics etc by Dr Edes herbal medicine, so i decided to contact the doctor because i know nature has the power to heal anything. I was diagnosed with Herpes for the past 3 years but Dr Edes cured me with his herbs and i referred my aunt and her husband to him immediately because they were both suffering from Herpes but to God be the glory, they were cured too .I know is hard to believe but am a living testimony. There is no harm trying herbs, Thanks. Write him on WhatsApp on +2348151937428. @dr_edes_remedies deals with
    (1)Alzheimer virus
    (2)Cancer
    (3)HIV
    (4)Herpes
    (5)Genital warts
    (6)ALS
    (7)Virginal infection
    (8)HPV
    (9)Hepatitis
    (10)Asthma
    Email him on [email protected]
    https://dredesherbalhome.weebly.com

  6. Welcome. DO NOT BE TROUBLED ANYMORE. you’re at the right place. Nothing like having trustworthy Hackers. have you lost money before or bitcoins and you are looking for a hacker to get your money back? You should contact us right away. It's very affordable and we give guarantees to our clients. Our hacking services are as follows:
    -Hack into any kind of phone
    _Increase Credit Scores
    _Western union, bitcoin and money gram hacking
    _Criminal records deletion_BLANK ATM/CREDIT CARDS
    _Hacking of phones(that of your spouse, boss, friends, and see whatever is being discussed behind your back)
    _Security system hacking… and so much more. Contact THEM now and get whatever you want at
    Email: [email protected]

    Whatsapp: +1-(781)-656-7138.

    WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO HIRE A HACKER:
    There are so many Reasons why people need to hire a hacker, It might be to Hack a Websites to deface information's, retrieve information, edit information or give you admin access.
    • Some people might need us To Hack Their Target Smartphone so that they could get access to all activities on the phone like , text messages , call logs , Social media Apps and other information's
    • Some might need to Hack a Facebook , Gmail, Instagram , twitter and other social media Accounts,
    • Also Some Individuals might want to Track someone else's Location probably for investigation cases
    • Some might need Us to Hack into the Court's Database to Clear criminal records.
    • However, Some People Might Have Lost So Much Funds With BINARY OPTIONS BROKERS or BTC MINING and wish to Recover Their Funds
    • All these Are what we can get Done Asap With The Help Of Our Root HackTools, Special HackTools and Our Technical Hacking Strategies Which Surpasses All Other Hackers.

    ★ OUR SPECIAL SERVICES WE OFFER ARE:
    * RECOVERY OF LOST FUNDS ON SCAM INVESTMENTS, BINARY OPTIONS TRADING & ALL TYPES OF INVESTMENT SCAMS.
    * Credit Cards Loading ( USA Only )
    * BANK Account Loading (USA Banks Only)

    ★ You can also contact us for other Cyber Attacks And Hijackings, we do All★
    Whatsapp: +1-(781)-656-7138.

    ★ CONTACTS:
    * For Binary Options Recovery, Feel free to contact us via Email: [email protected] for a wonderful job well done, Stay Safe.

    IT HAS BEEN TESTED AND TRUSTED.

  7. Welcome. BE NOT TROUBLED anymore. you’re at the right place. Nothing like having trustworthy hackers. have you lost money before or bitcoins and are looking for a hacker to get your money back? You should contact us right away. It's very affordable and we give guarantees to our clients. Our hacking services are as follows:Email:[email protected] 
    -hack into any kind of phone
    _Increase Credit Scores
    _western union, bitcoin and money gram hacking
    _criminal records deletion_BLANK ATM/CREDIT CARDS
    _Hacking of phones(that of your spouse, boss, friends, and see whatever is being discussed behind your back)
    _Security system hacking…and so much more. Contact THEM now and get whatever you want at
    Email:[email protected] 

      Whats app:+1(305) 330-3282  

    WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO HIRE A HACKER??:
    There are so many Reasons why people need to hire a hacker, It might be to Hack a Websites to deface information, retrieve information, edit information or give you admin access.
    • Some people might need us To Hack Their Target Smartphone so that they could get access to all activities on the phone like , text messages , call logs , Social media Apps and other information
    • Some might need to Hack a Facebook , gmail, Instagram , twitter and other social media Accounts,
    • Also Some Individuals might want to Track someone else's Location probably for investigation cases
    • Some might need Us to Hack into Court's Database to Clear criminal records.
    • However, Some People Might Have Lost So Much Funds With BINARY OPTIONS BROKERS or BTC MINING and wish to Recover Their Funds
    • All these Are what we can get Done Asap With The Help Of Our Root Hack Tools, Special Hack Tools and Our Technical Hacking Strategies Which Surpasses All Other Hackers.

    ★ OUR SPECIAL SERVICES WE OFFER ARE:
    * RECOVERY OF LOST FUNDS ON BINARY OPTIONS
    * Credit Cards Loading ( USA Only )
    * BANK Account Loading (USA Banks Only)

    ★ You can also contact us for other Cyber Attacks And Hijackings, we do All ★

    ★ CONTACTS:
    * For Binary Options Recovery,feel free to contact ([email protected])for a wonderful job well done,stay safe.

    Why waste your time waiting for a monthly salary. When you can make up to $3,000 in 5-7days from home,                     
    Invest $300 and earn $3,000
    Invest $500 and earn $5,000
    Invest $600 and earn $6,000
    Invest $700 and earn $7,000
    Invest $800 and earn $8,000
    Invest $900 and earn $9,000
    Invest $1000 and earn $10,000

    IT HAS BEEN TESTED AND TRUSTED  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *