By comparison, the top 20% of households saw their incomes rise 1.6% while expenses remained stable, dropping $2 from $7,575 in 2012/13 to $7,573 in the five years since. Other income groups’ income rose from 2.7% to 3.3%, while expenses increased from 0.4% to 1.2%.
SINGAPORE (Aug 5): Singapore’s overall average monthly household income has risen 2.4% since half a decade ago in 2012/13, whereas expenditure only went up 0.8%. But the bottom 20% of households in the city state might be feeling even poorer than before.
From 2012/13 to 2017/18, the bottom one-fifth of households was the only group whose rise in expenditure outpaced income growth in nominal terms. For these Singaporean and permanent resident households, their incomes rose 2.8% a year — the fastest growth among the quintiles — but their expenses were 3% higher a year.
