On February 9, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in Singapore published a new Occasional Paper addressing trends in income growth, inequality, and social mobility. This document marks the second release of such reports since the first was issued in August 2015 and introduces wealth inequality data derived from household surveys for the first time.
The findings reveal that the average household wealth for the top 20% of Singaporeans is S$5,264,000, significantly surpassing the combined average of S$3,541,000 for the lower 80%. This results in a striking 32.7% disparity in average household wealth between these groups. The wealth Gini coefficient in Singapore is reported at 0.55, indicating a level of inequality comparable to that of other developed nations such as the UK and Japan, where coefficients range from 0.6 to 0.74.
MOF cautions that the estimates may be subject to inaccuracies due to the potential under-reporting of wealth, particularly among high-net-worth individuals. The report highlights that most households in Singapore possess positive net wealth, contrasting with nations like the UK and Australia, where the lowest income groups often face negative home equity.