Minister Lim Hng Kiang's written reply to Parliament Question on Sectoral Median Monthly Wages and Wage Shares Vis-À-Vis Those in Developed Economies

Question​

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a)  how does Singapore compare with developed economies in terms of median  monthly  wages  and  wage  shares;  (b)  how  do  the  biomedical sector, general  manufacturing sector, and the accommodation and food services sector in  Singapore compare with their counterpart sectors in developed economies in  terms of sectoral average monthly wages and sectoral wage shares; and (c) how does Singapore compare with developed economies in terms of productivity growth and median wage growth.

Written Reply by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry

Median Monthly Wages and Wage Shares

Between 2007 and 2011, Singapore’s wage share of GDP averaged at 41.5 per cent. This was lower than the wage shares of many developed economies, which were typically at 50 per cent or more (see Table 1 in the Appendix).

Over the same period, the PPP-adjusted real median gross monthly income of full-time employed residents in Singapore was $2,720¹, higher than the median income of workers in developed economies such as Germany and the United Kingdom, but lower than that of workers in economies like the United States.

Average Monthly Wages and Wage Shares by Sectors

Between 2007 and 2011, the PPP-adjusted real average monthly wages of workers in Singapore in the biomedical cluster, general manufacturing cluster and the accommodation & food services sector were $4,880, $2,840 and $1,640 respectively (see Table 2 in the Appendix).² The corresponding wage shares were 6.8 per cent, 52.3 per cent and 56.0 per cent respectively.

While the average wage and wage share in Singapore’s general manufacturing cluster tended to be lower than those of developed economies, our average wage and wage share in the accommodation & food services sectors were comparable with those of other economies. A similar comparison for the biomedical cluster could not be made as comparable wage and wage share data for this cluster were not available for the other economies.

Labour Productivity Growth and Median Monthly Wage Growth

Singapore’s labour productivity growth from 2007 to 2011 was 0.2 per cent per annum, slower than that in many developed economies such as the United States, Germany and Hong Kong, but comparable with the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain (see Table 3 in the Appendix). Productivity can be affected by economic cycles, and should be viewed over a longer period of time. Our labour productivity growth from 2002 to 2011 was 2.4 per cent per annum. This outpaced the labour productivity growth in developed economies such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States.

The growth in the real median gross monthly income of full-time employed resident workers in Singapore was 2.6 per cent per annum over the period of 2007 to 2011.³ This was faster  than the real median income growth for workers in developed economies such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Hong Kong.

Appendix

Table 1⁴: Average median monthly income⁵ and average wage share by economy, 2007 – 2011

Table 2: Average monthly wages⁶ and wage shares⁷ in general manufacturing and accommodation & food services sectors, 2007 – 2011

Table 3: Median income growth and productivity growth per annum by economy

4 Data for Hong Kong were obtained from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. For the United States and European economies, wage shares were derived from data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Data on wages in the European economies were derived from data from the Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Data on wages in the United States were derived from data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. 5 Income data were averaged across 2007 to 2011, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) adjusted, and expressed in constant 2011 dollars. Income data for Hong Kong were the average for 2006 and 2011 only as data for the other years were not available.   6 Wage data for the European economies and the United States were obtained from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Wages were Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) adjusted, and expressed in constant 2011 dollars. For France, Germany and the United Kingdom, wages were averaged across 2006 to 2010. For the United States, wages were averaged across 2005 to 2009 instead as data for later years were not available.   7 Wage share data for the European economies were obtained from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Wage share data for the United States were obtained from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For the general manufacturing sector, wage share data for Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom were for years 2006 to 2010, as data for 2011 were not available. For the accommodation & food services sector, wage share data for 2006 to 2010 were used for all economies except the United Kingdom as data for 2011 were not available for most economies. Data for the United Kingdom were for years 2005 to 2009, as data for 2010 were also not available.