Wages as a Share of Economic Growth and Companies' Profits

Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Minister for Trade and Industry if he can provide data on (i) the share of total wages in Singapore's GDP, averaged over each decade from 1970 to 2009; and (ii) the ratio of labour income (wages) to profits earned by the private sector in each of these decades.

The Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mdm Speaker, data on total wages and profits, compiled under the income approach to measuring GDP, are only available from 1980 onwards. In the 1980s, the wage share of GDP averaged at 41.8%. This rose slightly to 41.9% in the 1990s and further to 42.5% between 2000 and 2009.

A breakdown of the data into wages and profits for the private sector is not available due to data limitations. Nonetheless, for the economy as a whole, the ratio of wages to profits has remained broadly unchanged, averaging 0.83, 0.86 and 0.85 in the 1980s, 1990s, and between 2000 and 2009 respectively.

12.14 pm

Mdm Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.