Real Wages Continued to Grow in 2025
Wages continued to grow in 2025, alongside an increase in the proportion of profitable establishments. Real wage growth improved over the year, strengthening workers’ purchasing power. Looking ahead to 2026, real wage growth is expected to remain positive, although firms are expected to remain measured in their wage increases amid geopolitical uncertainties and inflationary pressures.
Main Findings
Both nominal and real wages grew in 2025
2 Nominal total wages1 (including employer CPF contributions) of full-time resident2 employees who had been with the same employer for at least one year continued to grow (4.9%) in 2025. While this was a moderation from 2024 (5.6%), wage growth remained broadly in line with past years. The moderation coincided with easing inflation, which may have reduced upward pressure on firms to raise nominal wages. After accounting for inflation, real wages grew by 4.0% in 2025, higher than in 2024 (3.2%), indicating improved purchasing power for workers. Over the medium term, real wage growth continues to be supported by real productivity growth3.
A majority of establishments raised wages, supported by broad profitability
3 A majority of establishments reported that they were profitable in 2025 (83.1%), up from 80.8% in 2024, reflecting relatively favourable business conditions amid Singapore’s continued economic growth. 64.0% of firms reported stable or improved profitability at levels similar to the previous year (62.6%), suggesting a growing share of financially stable firms.
4 On the other hand, the remaining firms had reported a loss in 2025 (16.9%), a decline from 2024 (19.2%). Smaller firms4, which run on a smaller scale and produce less, were more likely to report losses compared to larger firms5.
5 There are signs of greater prudence in terms of wages. While establishments granting wage increases continued to form the majority in 2025 (72.4%), the proportion doing so declined from 2024 (78.3%), and more establishments kept wages unchanged (from 18.5% in 2024 to 24.5% in 2025). Among establishments that provided increases, wage increments averaged 5.8% in 2025, with employee retention remaining the most commonly cited reason for granting wage increases. Only a small percentage of firms reduced wages (3.1%), with an average wage reduction of 3.7% in 2025. These firms generally experienced weaker business performance than in the previous year, leading some to implement wage cuts.
Wage growth observed across all employee groups and industries
6 Rank-and-File (RAF), Junior Management and Senior Management employees all experienced positive but moderated wage growth in 2025 (4.8%, 5.1% and 4.9% respectively). Notably, differences in wage growth across employee groups narrowed in 2025, suggesting more broad-based wage gains.
7 Wage growth remained positive across all sectors in 2025, although most sectors recorded slower wage growth compared to 20246, signalling that wage momentum had eased amid a more cautious business environment. Administrative & Support Services recorded the highest wage growth at 7.5%, although this was below the 8.7% growth in 2024, with lower-wage workers in the sector supported by the wage ladders under the Progressive Wage Model (PWM)7 and the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) requirements. Financial Services (5.9%) and Insurance Services (6.6%) also registered relatively strong wage growth, amid continued demand for professionals, managers and executives.
8 On the other hand, Accommodation recorded the largest moderation in wage growth, easing from 5.5% in 2024 to 3.9% in 2025 as labour demand stabilised following the hiring surge during the post-pandemic recovery period from 2022 and 2023. Construction was another sector that recorded more notable moderation in wage growth compared to the previous year, easing from 5.5% in 2024 to 4.0% in 2025.
Conclusion
9 Overall, Singapore’s labour market continued to experience positive wage growth in 2025 amid favourable business conditions and easing inflation. Although nominal wage growth moderated from the stronger pace seen in 2024, real wages improved, supporting workers’ purchasing power.
10 Looking ahead, wage growth is expected to remain positive but moderated amid a more uncertain global environment and inflation risks. Firms are likely to be measured in wage increases.
11 Over the longer term, sustaining real wage growth will continue to depend on the economic outlook, productivity improvements, workforce upgrading, and wage-setting practices.
12 In line with the National Wages Council’s 2025/2026 Guidelines, the Government encourages establishments to provide fair and sustainable wage increases which are aligned with productivity growth. The Government also encourages establishments to adopt the Flexible Wage System (FWS). The FWS enables quick, temporary adjustments during downturns, allowing establishments to cut costs rather than jobs to sustain their businesses. Establishments can refer to the FWS Guidebook (https://go.gov.sg/fwsguidebook) to better understand the FWS and its implementation or approach tripartite partners and the Tripartite Alliance for Fair & Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) for advice.
For More Information
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The “Report on Wage Practices 2025” is released by the Manpower Research and Statistics Department, Ministry of Manpower. The full report is available online at https://stats.mom.gov.sg/.
14 For data requests and queries pertaining to the report, please reach out to the Ministry of Manpower’s Research and Statistics Department at mom_rsd@mom.gov.sg.