Average Singaporean now earns $2,500

Singaporeans should be happy with their monthly income rising by 4.2% over the year. According to OCBC, the median monthly income of residents in full-time employment rose faster than the marginal growth of 0.5% in 2009.

The higher inflation this year did not hold back the increase in median income which is 1.8%. This gave a recovery from a slight dip of 0.1% in 2009. Overall, the nominal median income for all employed residents rose by 3.3% (real: 1.0%) to $2,500 in 2010, after falling by 1.2% (real: -1.8%) in 2009. The growth in income this year came earlier and stronger than in the previous recovery, when the median income hardly moved from 2001 to 2006, before rising significantly in 2007.