Real median income up 3.4% in 2024, gap with lower-wage workers shrinks

Fewer workers sharing load

- Tay Hong Yi

Median- and lower-wage earners saw their incomes grow in 2024 after accounting for inflation, rebounding out of the negative range seen in 2023.

Early findings from annual data on the resident labour force, released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Nov 28, also show that the income gap between median- and lower-wage earners narrowed further.

Residents refer to those who are either citizens or permanent residents here.

Real income growth clocked in at 3.4 per cent for those who earn the median income, and 4.6 per cent for lower-wage earners at the bottom 20 per cent threshold, though these figures are preliminary as full-year inflation data is not yet available for 2024.

This comes after high inflation in 2023 eroded real income growth to minus 2.2 per cent for those at the median and minus 3 per cent for 20th-percentile earners.

MOM said growth in absolute income numbers, coupled with easing inflation, drove the rebound.

Before accounting for inflation, the median nominal income came in at $5,500 a month in 2024, up 5.8 per cent from 2023, while those at the 20th percentile drew $3,026, up 7.1 per cent.

The data is for residents in full-time employment and includes employer contributions to the Central Provident Fund.

The ministry noted the latest real income growth figures approach the average annual rates seen pre-pandemic from 2014 to 2019, which were 3.8 per cent for median income earners and 4.4 per cent per year for those at the 20th percentile.

"Income growth was also inclusive, with (20th-percentile) income growing faster than the median," it said in its report.

In terms of five-year periods, real income growth for median earners slowed to 0.7 per cent annually for 2019 to 2024, from 3.8 per cent for 2014 to 2019. For 20th-percentile earners, they dropped to 1.2 per cent from 4.4 per cent over the same periods.