Singapore workers to get a pay rise of 2.7% in 2018

The expected real wage increase is 2.7 per cent next year after inflation is taken into account, according to a survey released by human resources firm ECA International on Tuesday (Nov 14).

 “Over the past few years, inflation in Singapore has increased while nominal salary increases have stayed flat, which has had the effect of slowly eroding pay rises in real terms,” said Mr Lee Quane, director for Asia at ECA International, which released the annual survey involving 260 multinational companies from 72 countries. In Singapore, more than 110 firms were polled.

With inflation predicted to reach 1.3 per cent in 2018, workers can expect to see a real salary increase of 2.7 per cent.

In comparison, last year’s survey predicted a real wage increase of 2.9 per cent in 2017 after taking into account inflation of 1.1 per cent.

Despite this, the salary increases in Singapore for 2017 and 2018 are higher than those in Hong Kong and compare favourably with other developed economies in the region and globally, the survey noted. For 2018, workers in Hong Kong will likely see real wages rise by about 1.8 per cent.