Household Income
Decile (decile group)
A decile group is one tenth of all households arranged by their households incomes from minimum to maximum. The first decile group is the first one-tenth (i.e. 10% of all household with lowest incomes). The last decile is the one-tenth of the households with the highest incomes. Not all households are consistently in the same decile group from one year to the next.
Equivalence Scales
Equivalence scales take into account economies of scale within the household, and adjust for household size so that households of different sizes and compositions are comparable. There are different scales used by different countries and international organisations.
Gini Coefficient
A summary measure of income inequality. It is equal to zero in the case of total income equality and one in the case of total inequality. The more unequal the income distribution, the larger the value of the Gini coefficient.
Government Transfers
Government Transfers are unrequited assistance/benefits provided by the Government to households or individuals. These can be in cash or in-kind and can be classified into three categories:
- Regular Government contributions: Recurring cash disbursements, top-ups or rebates (e.g., Workfare Income Supplement, GST Vouchers, Pioneer Generation MediSave Top-ups).
- Ad-hoc Government contributions: One-off disbursements (e.g., CDC Vouchers, Post-Secondary Education Account Top-ups, One-off Retirement Savings Bonus under the Majulah Package).
- Transfers in kind: Value of in-kind benefits through subsidised services or goods (e.g., Education Subsidies, Centre-Based Infant and Child Care Subsidies).
Based on international standards and guidelines by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations (UN) Expert Group on Household Income, capital housing transfers (e.g., CPF Housing Grant) that are large, lump sum and one-off payments have an effect beyond the year as well as an investment impact, and hence are not within the scope of household income statistics.
Government Taxes
Government Taxes are compulsory, unrequited payments made by households or individuals to the Government in cash or in-kind.
Household Employment Income
Refers to the sum of income received by employed members of the household from employment and business excluding the income of live-in domestic workers. Monthly household employment income includes one-twelfth of the annual bonus. Data on household employment income refer to household employment income before accounting for Government transfers and taxes, unless stated otherwise.
Household Income Per Household Member
Refers to the household income divided by the total number of members in the household.
Household Market Income
Refers to income earned by households from the market economy before any Government transfers and taxes. It comprises income from employment (including one-twelfth of annual bonuses and employer CPF contributions) and non-employment sources including investments (such as interests from savings and/or CPF balances, dividends from investments), rental, contributions from other households (such as allowance from children to parents not staying in the same household, alimony), pensions, annuities, royalties and regular payouts from CPF and insurance (i.e. CPF ElderShield and CareShield Life). For more information on the components included, please refer to the Technical Note on Household Income.
Household Market Income (After Government Transfers and Taxes)
Refers to the sum of market income, regular and ad-hoc Government contributions, as well as the value of in-kind benefits received by households, after subtracting Government taxes.
Household Market Income (Including Regular Government Contributions)
Refers to the sum of market income and regular Government contributions.
Household reference person
The household reference person may refer to the oldest member, the main income earner, the owner-occupier of the house, the person who manages the affairs of the household, or the person who supplied the information pertaining to other members.
Prior to Census of Population 2020, survey respondents were asked to identify the 'head of household'. The identified person is used as the reference person to determine relationships between household members. In Census of Population 2020, the term 'head of household' has been replaced with 'household reference person'.
Median Household Income
Refers to the household income in the middle of the income distribution, i.e., half of the households have higher income than the median household income and half have lower income than the median household income.
Modified OECD Scale
The modified OECD scale assigns the first adult in the household a weight of 1 point, and each additional adult a weight of 0.5 points and each child a weight of 0.3 points. The equivalised household income is derived by dividing the total household income by the sum of the points allocated to the household members.
Nominal Change in Income
Refers to the change in income without adjusting for inflation.
Number of Working/Employed Persons in Household
The number of working/employed persons in the household includes members of the same household who were working/employed during the survey reference period. Domestic workers in the household are excluded.
Percentile Ratio
A measure of the spread of incomes across the population. P90 refers to the income level at the 90th percentile. P10 refers to the income level at the 10th percentile.
Real change in Income
Refers to the change in income after adjusting for inflation. Nominal values are adjusted to real values using the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The CPI for All Items for the relevant household income group is used as the deflator to compute real income changes.
| Household Income Group |
CPI for All Items |
| Overall |
Consumer Price Index (CPI), 2024 As Base Year |
| 1st and 2nd Decile Groups |
Consumer Price Index (CPI) By Household Income Group, Lowest 20%, 2024 As Base Year |
| 3rd – 8th Decile Groups |
Consumer Price Index (CPI) By Household Income Group, Middle 60%, 2024 As Base Year |
| 9th and 10th Decile Groups |
Consumer Price Index (CPI) By Household Income Group, Highest 20%, 2024 As Base Year |
Note: Real change in average household income is derived using the CPI, 2024 as base year, while real change in median household income is derived using the CPI by household income group, middle 60%, 2024 as base year.
Resident Employed Households
Refers to households where the household reference person is a Singapore citizen or permanent resident and with at least one employed person. A household refers to (i) a group of two or more persons living together in the same house and sharing common food or other essential arrangements for living; or (ii) a person living alone or a person living with others but having his own food or other essential arrangements for living. Although persons may be living in the same house, they may not be members of the same household.
Source of data
The data are based on the sample of households surveyed in the June Comprehensive Labour Force Surveys conducted by the Ministry of Manpower every year, except for 2000, 2005, 2010, 2020 and 2025 which are based on the Censuses of Population, the General Household Survey 2005 and the Comprehensive Labour Force & Household Survey 2025. The income estimates are based on data as reported by survey respondents and from administrative sources where available. Survey estimates are subject to sampling variability.
Of the 33,000 housing units selected in the sample for the June Comprehensive Labour Force Survey 2025, some 1,507 households were excluded from the survey as they were unoccupied, non-residential or demolished. A total of 27,324 households responded to the survey, achieving an overall response rate of 86.8%.
Square Root Scale
Based on the square root scale, individuals are ranked by their household income on a 'per equivalised member basis', which is derived by dividing household income by the square root of household size.