Singaporean households are now earning and spending more compared to five years ago, according to new findings from the Department of Statistics’ household expenditure survey.
The average monthly household income in 2012/2013 was $10,500, and households spent an average of $4,720 a month on goods and services during the period.
Comparatively, the average Singaporean household earned $8,110 and spent $3,810 on a monthly basis in 2007/2008.
The study found that household income had climbed faster than household expenditure over the period, with average monthly household income rising by 5.3 percent per annum while the average household expenditure rose by a lower 4.4 percent per annum.
Households across all income groups recorded income growth over this period. Those in the lowest to middle income brackets saw income levels increase by 6.1 to 6.6 percent per annum, while households in the lowest 20 percent also experienced significantly faster income growth between 2007/2008 and 2012/2013 than in the earlier five-year period from 2002/2003 to 2007/2008.
Across housing types, households living in HDB flats reported higher annual income growth of 5.2 percent during the period, compared to those in condominiums and other apartments (3.6 percent) and landed properties (4.2 percent).
Housing, food and transport accounted for the largest shares of household expenditure for all income groups in 2012/2013. Collectively, they contributed to 65 percent of monthly household expenditure on average, up from 64 percent in 2007/2008 and 61 percent in 2002/2003.
The survey’s findings were drawn from 11,050 households between October 2012 and September 2013.
The full report can be accessed here.
Source: Department of Statistics
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
