Minister Lim Hng Kiang's reply on data for total wages and profits

Question

Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry if he can provide data on (i) the share of total wages in Singapore's GDP, averaged over each decade from 1970 to 2009; and (ii) the ratio of labour income (wages) to profits earned by the private sector in each of these decades.

Oral Answer by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry

Data on total wages and profits, compiled under the income approach to measuring GDP, are only available from 1980 onwards.  In the 1980s, the wage share of GDP averaged at 41.8 per cent.  This rose slightly to 41.9 per cent in the 1990s and further to 42.5 per cent between 2000 and 2009.

A breakdown of the data into wages and profits for the private sector is not available due to data limitations. Nonetheless, for the economy as a whole, the ratio of wages to profits has remained broadly unchanged, averaging 0.83, 0.86 and 0.85 in the 1980s, 1990s, and between 2000 and 2009 respectively.