Singapore has experienced an increase in the median household earnings across all income levels in 2014, even when accounting for inflation. The income gap between the rich and the poor was relatively unchanged since 2013.
- The Department of Statistics (SingStat) released numbers on last year’s household income, which revealed that the median monthly household income grew 4.1% to S$8,290 after inflation was accounted for. This growth rate is the highest since 2011 when a 5.6% increase was seen from the previous year.
- When accounting for household size, the median monthly earnings per member of the household jumped 4.7% since 2013, after inflation.
- The Gini coefficient which measures income inequality (lower figure is better) was 0.464 in 2014 compared to 0.463 in 2013. The last two years have seen the lowest Gini coefficient in a decade when accounting for government transfers and taxes, SingStat reported.
- The growth in household income is attributed to a growing labor market where employers likely increased wages to retain quality talent.
- Although growth has been increasing in every income bracket, those in the lowest income have seen the least amount of growth.