Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong says most workers have seen wages outpace inflation.
Singapore’s economy grew by 4 percent in 2024, handily beating forecasts, according to preliminary government figures.
Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 4.3 percent in the October-December period, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Thursday, taking full-year growth to its strongest performance since 2011, excluding post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery in 2021.
Officials in the Southeast Asian country had forecast growth for the year at around 3.5 percent in November.
Manufacturing, a key driver of the city-state’s export-dependent economy, expanded 4.2 percent in the latest quarter, while construction and services rose 5.9 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively.
In a New Year message, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said most workers had seen their wages outpace inflation and could expect their incomes to continue to rise.
“Unlike many developed countries, we are not plagued by unemployment and stagnant wages,” Wong said.
Wong, however, acknowledged that Singapore’s economy was not immune to geopolitical tensions, such as the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
“In many countries, cost-of-living pressures continue to weigh heavily on families and communities. People feel a deep sense of anxiety and worry about the future,” he said.
Singapore’s Commerce Ministry in November said it expected growth of between 1 and 3 percent in 2025.
