The single most useful labour fact in Singapore for your wallet is the median: a full-time employed resident earned a gross monthly income of S$5,775 in mid-2025, according to the Ministry of Manpower's Labour Force in Singapore 2025 report. That figure includes the employer's 17 percent CPF, so the typical pay on a contract is closer to S$5,000, MOM's own median excluding employer CPF, before your own CPF comes off. Three more numbers frame the rest of your working life here: the workweek caps at 44 hours, the statutory retirement age rose to 64 on 1 July 2026, and 37 percent of your wage (up to an S$8,000 ceiling) goes into CPF every month if you are 55 or below. Singapore has no statutory minimum wage in the usual sense; sector-specific Progressive Wage floors and a Local Qualifying Salary do that job instead. The market is still tight: resident unemployment was 2.9 percent in June 2026, and real median income grew 4.1 percent in 2025.
The number to anchor on is the median, not the average. In MOM's 2025 survey the median gross monthly income from work for full-time employed residents was S$5,775, up from S$5,500 the year before. The 20th-percentile (lower-wage) worker earned S$3,164, up from S$3,026. Both figures include employer CPF, which is why they read higher than what most people quote from their offer letter.
Strip out employer CPF and MOM puts the median at S$5,000 a month, or about S$60,000 a year before bonuses. That distinction matters when you compare. If your offer letter says S$5,000 and someone cites the S$5,775 median, you are not behind; you are comparing a number that excludes employer CPF against one that includes it.
Real incomes rose even after inflation. MOM's full 2025 report put real income growth at 4.1 percent at the median and 3.6 percent for lower-wage workers, both above the average gain of the past decade. That is the first clear year in a while where pay outpaced the cost of living, after the 2022 to 2023 inflation spike ate into real wages.
Singapore does not set a blanket national minimum wage. It has the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which sets rising wage floors in specific sectors, and the Local Qualifying Salary, which an employer must pay local workers before it can hire foreigners. So the answer to "what is the minimum wage in Singapore" is: it depends on your sector and whether your employer hires foreigners.
The Progressive Wage Model covers cleaning, security, landscape, lift and escalator, retail, food services, administration and waste management. Each sector has a wage ladder tied to training and job level, and the floors are revised upward over time, so a security officer or cleaner has a legislated minimum that rises with skills rather than a flat figure.
The Local Qualifying Salary is the separate lever. To employ S Pass or Work Permit holders, a firm must pay its local workers at least the LQS to count them toward its foreign-worker quota. This lifts the floor for citizens and PRs in firms that rely on foreign labour.
Under the Employment Act, contractual working hours are capped at 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week. On a five-day week that becomes up to 9 hours a day. Overtime, where it applies, is paid at 1.5 times your hourly basic rate and must reach you within 14 days of the salary period.
Overtime pay is only mandatory for some workers. A non-workman (most office staff) qualifies only if monthly basic salary is S$2,600 or less; a workman (manual roles) qualifies up to S$4,500. Above those thresholds, overtime pay is whatever your contract says, which for most professionals is nothing. That is the legal reality behind unpaid late nights in PMET jobs.
Paid leave is modest by global standards. Statutory annual leave starts at 7 days after a year of service and rises one day per year to a cap of 14. Paid sick leave, after three months of service, is 14 outpatient days and up to 60 days including hospitalisation. Public holidays add 11 days a year, listed in our 2026 public holidays guide.
The 44-hour cap is a legal ceiling, not the norm. The average usual hours worked per week by employed residents fell to 41.4 in 2025, the lowest on MOM's record and part of a long decline as five-day weeks replaced six-day ones and flexible arrangements spread. So the typical full-time job in Singapore runs a touch under the legal maximum, closer to a regular eight-hour day across five days.
Hours vary sharply by sector. Construction workers were paid for the most, 47.4 hours a week on average in 2025 and 46.9 in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting site schedules and a workforce of mostly Work Permit holders. Office and services roles tend to sit at or below the 41.4 average on paper.
The average still hides a lot for professionals. The 41.4 counts the hours people usually work, paid or not, averaged across every employed resident, so long weeks in some jobs are offset by short ones in others. Managers and executives are also the group that gets no statutory overtime pay above the S$4,500 and S$2,600 thresholds. If you are a salaried PMET, your actual hours can run well past 41.4, and none of the extra shows up on your payslip.
If you are a citizen or PR aged 55 or below, total CPF on your wage is 37 percent: you contribute 20 percent and your employer adds 17 percent on top. The employee 20 percent is deducted from your salary; the employer 17 percent is paid on top, so it does not cut your take-home but it is still your money going into your accounts.
From 1 January 2026 CPF applies to Ordinary Wages up to S$8,000 a month, raised from S$7,400 in 2025. Pay above that ceiling is not subject to CPF. So a wage at the S$5,000 median (the figure before employer CPF) sits well within the ceiling: your 20 percent is S$1,000 deducted, your employer adds S$850, and S$1,850 lands in your CPF each month across the Ordinary, Special and MediSave accounts.
The split shifts with age. When you are younger, more goes to the Ordinary Account for housing; as you age, more moves to MediSave and the Special or Retirement Account. The OA earns 2.5 percent and the SA, MA and RA earn 4 percent a year as of 2026, with extra interest on lower balances. CPF is forced saving for housing, healthcare and retirement, not a tax. See where your slice goes with the CPF contribution calculator, and read the mechanics in our CPF contribution rates guide.
Update, 14 October 2026: the 2026 CPF rates for workers above 55 to 60 and above 60 to 65 are 34 and 25 percent; this guide earlier gave 2025's 32.5 and 23.5 percent. Singapore's CPF rates do not stay at 37 percent for life. They taper as you age, which directly changes the take-home of older workers. As of 2026 the combined rate is 34 percent for those above 55 to 60, 25 percent for above 60 to 65, 16.5 percent for above 65 to 70, and 12.5 percent above 70. From 1 January 2027 the 55-to-60 and 60-to-65 bands rise by another 1.5 and 1.0 percentage points, to 35.5 and 26 percent.
The retirement and re-employment ages moved up in 2026. On 1 July 2026 the statutory retirement age rose to 64 (from 63) and the re-employment age to 69 (from 68). Your employer cannot ask you to retire before 64, and must offer re-employment up to 69 if you are eligible. The plan is to reach retirement age 65 and re-employment age 70 by 2030.
This matters for retirement planning. A higher retirement age means more years of CPF contributions, though the CPF LIFE payout eligibility age (currently 65) is set separately from the employment retirement age. To map out how long you will work and what your CPF will pay, use the CPF LIFE payout calculator and our retirement sum guide.
Update, 31 October 2026: retrenchments rose to 4,800 in the third quarter of 2026 from 4,620 in the second, the fifth quarter in a row they have edged up, and resident unemployment rose to 3.0 percent in September from 2.9 percent in August. Citizen unemployment rose to 3.1 percent from 3.0 percent, overall unemployment held at 2.0 percent, and MOM flagged emerging weaknesses in parts of the labour market.
Singapore's job market stayed tight through 2025 and into 2026. In September 2026 the unemployment rate for all workers was 2.0 percent, resident unemployment 3.0 percent and the citizen rate 3.1 percent, the last two up slightly from August, and MOM flagged emerging weaknesses in parts of the labour market. Where the market is cooling is in who gets the new jobs.
Hiring is slowing on the resident side. Of the 55,500 jobs added across the economy in 2025, resident employment grew by only about 11,600 while non-resident employment grew by 43,900. The bulk of new jobs went to foreign workers, partly in sectors residents avoid, partly a sign that local hiring momentum has eased. Fresh graduates already feel this: the Class of 2024 had a lower employment rate than the cohort before, covered in our graduate starting salary guide.
The labour force participation rate has slipped for four years running, from 70.5 percent in 2021 to 67.9 percent in 2025, driven by an ageing population rather than people dropping out by choice. Female participation among those aged 25 to 64 climbed to 80.5 percent in 2025 from 74.1 percent a decade earlier, narrowing the gap with the male rate of 91.8 percent. The takeaway for your finances: a cooling market is a reason to hold a larger cash buffer, not a smaller one.
Update, 14 October 2026: the maximum employment age for Work Permit holders is now 64, pegged to the retirement age that rose on 1 July 2026. Singapore's labour story is partly a foreign-worker story. As of June 2026 there were 1,655,900 foreign workers, roughly 40 percent of total employment, and they are not one group. Work Permit holders, mostly in construction, marine, process and domestic work, made up the largest share at about 1,243,600, including 323,800 migrant domestic workers. S Pass holders (mid-skilled) numbered 177,300 and Employment Pass holders (professionals) 204,300.
The pass system has wage floors built in, and they keep rising. The Employment Pass minimum qualifying salary rises to S$6,000 for new applications from 1 January 2027, and the S Pass minimum to S$3,600, with higher floors for older candidates and the financial sector. The maximum employment age for Work Permit holders is 64, pegged to the retirement age. These thresholds keep foreign pay in step with local wages so cheaper labour does not undercut residents.
For your own pay, the relevance is competition and floors. If you are an entry-level professional, the EP floor of S$6,000 from 2027 is the market signal for what a graduate-level foreign hire must cost an employer, which shapes what locals can ask for too.
| Pass type | Who it covers | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Employment Pass | Professionals, managers, executives | 204,300 |
| S Pass | Mid-skilled workers | 177,300 |
| Work Permit (total) | Lower-skilled and domestic workers | 1,243,600 |
| of which Migrant Domestic Workers | Live-in helpers | 323,800 |
| Other work passes | Trainees, students, etc. | 30,700 |
| Total foreign workforce | All foreign workers | 1,655,900 |
Singapore's labour force has shifted hard towards higher qualifications, and that shapes pay. The tertiary-educated, meaning those with a degree, diploma or professional qualification, made up 64.0 percent of employed residents in 2025, up from 51.6 percent a decade earlier in 2015. Two in three working locals now hold a post-secondary credential, which is why entry-level competition for graduate roles is stiff and a degree alone no longer sets you apart the way it once did.
Qualifications still track pay, but the premium has its limits. MOM data for 2025 put the median gross monthly income for full-time employed degree holders at S$9,038, well above the national median, though that figure also includes employer CPF and the top end is pulled up by senior professionals. The gap between a degree and a diploma is real but narrower than the headline suggests once you account for the field you studied and the years you put in.
For your money the lesson is to weigh the cost of more study against the actual pay lift in your field, not the average. A second degree or a part-time master's only pays off if it moves you into a higher-paying track or role. Sense-check any expected jump against real numbers in our Singapore salary guide and the median income by occupation data before you commit the fees and the years.
One of the 11 public holidays you are paid for is Labour Day, and it carries a history that explains a lot about how work is governed here. Labour Day became a public holiday in Singapore on 1 May 1960, while the territory was still a self-governing state under the British, five years before independence. The date links to the global push for the eight-hour day, captured in the old slogan of eight hours for work, eight for rest and eight for what you will, an idea that dates back to the 1800s.
The body behind it is the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), which runs the May Day Rally each year where union leaders, employers and ministers meet. Singapore's model is tripartite: government, employers and unions bargain together rather than through confrontation, which is why the country has seen almost no strikes in its modern history. That cooperation is the reason wage floors move through schemes like the Progressive Wage Model instead of through industrial action.
The practical takeaway is that worker protections here arrive by policy and law, not by walkouts. Your leave, your overtime rules and your CPF rates are all set centrally and revised on a schedule, so the way to defend your pay is to know the rules and time your moves, not to wait for a collective fight.
Safety is a labour fact that rarely makes the salary headlines but matters if you work in a physical job. In 2025 the workplace fatal injury rate fell to a record low of 0.96 deaths per 100,000 workers, down from 1.2 the year before, and the major injury rate hit an all-time low of 15.7 per 100,000 (excluding platform workers), according to MOM's Workplace Safety and Health Report. Those rates put Singapore alongside the safest countries in the world, with the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.
The risk is concentrated. Construction, manufacturing and transport and storage together accounted for more than half of all fatal and major injuries in 2025, with vehicular incidents and falls from height among the leading causes. If you work in one of those sectors, the statistics that matter to you are sector-specific, not the national average.
There is a money angle to safety. Work injury compensation is mandatory under the Work Injury Compensation Act, so a covered injury at work pays out without you having to prove fault, but the cover has limits and does not replace long-term income loss. That is the case for personal critical illness or disability cover on top of what your employer carries, especially in higher-risk trades.
Read the median as a benchmark, not a verdict. If you earn below S$5,000 on an offer-letter basis you are below the typical full-time resident, but pay growth in the first five years matters more than your entry point. Use the median to sense-check whether an offer is fair for your stage, then focus on your savings rate, which you control.
Build the cooling market into your plan. With resident hiring slowing, an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses is the floor, and six is sensible if you are a fresh graduate or in a volatile sector. Park it where it earns a real return; our roundups of the best savings accounts and T-bills show current options.
Treat CPF as part of your compensation, not a deduction to resent. The 37 percent that moves into your accounts each month funds housing, healthcare and retirement at a guaranteed 2.5 to 4 percent. Whatever sits above your CPF and emergency fund is the money to invest for the long run; our guide on how to start investing in Singapore is the place to begin.
The most useful figure is the median, not the average. MOM's Labour Force in Singapore 2025 report puts the median gross monthly income for full-time employed residents at S$5,775, including the employer's 17 percent CPF. Strip that out and MOM's median is S$5,000 a month, closer to what an offer letter shows. The mean is higher because a small number of very high earners pull it up, which is why median is the fairer benchmark.
Not a single national one. Singapore uses the Progressive Wage Model, which sets rising wage floors in sectors like cleaning, security, retail and food services, plus the Local Qualifying Salary, which an employer must pay local workers before it can hire foreigners. Together these set a practical floor for low-wage work, but there is no flat figure that applies to every job across the economy.
Under the Employment Act, contractual hours are capped at 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week. On a five-day week that becomes up to 9 hours a day. Overtime, where it applies, is paid at 1.5 times the hourly basic rate, but overtime pay is only compulsory for non-workmen earning S$2,600 or less, or workmen earning S$4,500 or less, in monthly basic salary. Above those thresholds, extra pay depends on your contract.
On 1 July 2026 the statutory retirement age rose to 64, from 63, and the re-employment age rose to 69, from 68. Your employer cannot make you retire before 64 and must offer eligible workers re-employment up to 69. The government plans to lift these to 65 and 70 by 2030. The CPF LIFE payout eligibility age is set separately and remains 65.
If you are a citizen or PR aged 55 or below, total CPF is 37 percent of your wage: you contribute 20 percent and your employer adds 17 percent on top. From 1 January 2026 this applies to Ordinary Wages up to S$8,000 a month. On the S$5,000 median wage before employer CPF, S$1,000 comes out of your pay and your employer adds S$850, so S$1,850 lands in your CPF accounts each month.
As of June 2026 there were 1,655,900 foreign workers, about 40 percent of total employment. Work Permit holders were the largest group at around 1,243,600 (including 323,800 migrant domestic workers), followed by 204,300 Employment Pass holders and 177,300 S Pass holders. Wage floors for these passes rise over time to keep foreign pay in step with local wages.
Not at the moment. In June 2026 resident unemployment was 2.9 percent and the seasonally adjusted rate for all workers 1.9 percent, which MOM called low and stable. Hiring has cooled for residents, though: of 55,500 jobs added in 2025, roughly four in five went to non-residents. That is a reason to keep a larger cash buffer.
Yes. With inflation easing, real income rose 4.1 percent at the median and 3.6 percent for lower-wage workers in 2025, both above the average gain of the past decade. The nominal median gross monthly income rose to S$5,775 from S$5,500. This followed 2022 to 2023, when high inflation had eroded real pay, so 2025 was a genuine recovery in purchasing power.
The average usual hours worked per week by employed residents fell to 41.4 in 2025, a record low, even though the Employment Act allows up to 44. Hours vary by sector: construction workers were paid for 47.4 hours a week on average in 2025, the most of any industry. The 41.4 counts the hours people usually work, paid or not, averaged across all employed residents, so many salaried professionals with no statutory overtime pay work well past it.
Highly, and increasingly so. The tertiary-educated, meaning those with a degree, diploma or professional qualification, made up 64.0 percent of employed residents in 2025, up from 51.6 percent in 2015. Two in three working locals now hold a post-secondary credential. MOM data for 2025 put the median income for full-time employed degree holders at S$9,038 a month including employer CPF, above the national median, though the premium depends heavily on field and experience.
Labour Day became a paid public holiday in Singapore on 1 May 1960, while the territory was still self-governing under the British. The date connects to the global eight-hour-day movement. The National Trades Union Congress runs the annual May Day Rally, and Singapore's tripartite model, where government, employers and unions negotiate together, is why the country has seen almost no strikes and why wage floors move through schemes like the Progressive Wage Model rather than industrial action.
Among the safest in the world. In 2025 the workplace fatal injury rate fell to a record low of 0.96 deaths per 100,000 workers, down from 1.2 in 2024, and the major injury rate hit an all-time low of 15.7 per 100,000 (excluding platform workers), per MOM's Workplace Safety and Health Report. Risk is concentrated in construction, manufacturing and transport, which together accounted for more than half of serious injuries. Work injury compensation is no-fault but capped, so private disability cover still matters in higher-risk trades.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).