There is good news for Singaporeans as they will see their salaries increase by 4 per cent in 2018, according to the latest Salary Trends survey by ECA International (ECA). Employees are expected to see a real salary increase of 2.7 per cent in 2018 after factoring in inflation, predicted to be 1.3 percent next year. This keeps Singapore near the middle of the salary increase table in Asia, ahead of Hong Kong once again, ranking ninth out of 20 countries surveyed in the region.
India will see highest real wage increase in the region for the second year running, according to the survey.
Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia, for ECA International said, “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. Despite this, the salary increases for 2017 and 2018 are higher than in Hong Kong and compare favourably with other developed economies in the region and globally. This reflects the fact that the Singapore economy continues to perform well on the back of global economic recovery.”
Hong Kong residents are expected to see a real salary increase of 1.8 percent in 2018, keeping Hong Kong near the bottom of the real salary increase table in Asia, the survey said. Real salary increases in Asia-Pacific to continue to lead the world in 2018, filling eight of the top ten positions in the global rankings.
In Malaysia, low unemployment and a strong economy have kept wage increases above 5 percent for several years and this will continue in 2018. Employees look set for a boost in real salary increases as inflation is forecast to fall back slightly.
Despite slower economic growth recently, companies in mainland China are expected to provide staff with an average salary increase of 6 percent next year. Relatively low inflation will mean that mainland China will once again be among the ten countries with the highest real rates of increase in 2018.
ECA is the leading provider of knowledge, information and technology that enables businesses to manage their international reward programmes. To help companies remain competitive by providing information on actual and anticipated pay rises for staff, as well as make informed decisions about their employees’ pay rises in the context of local markets, ECA's Salary Trends Reports analyse current and projected salary increases for local employees in 72 countries across the world.