1. Average monthly earnings per employee by industry in Singapore

Have you ever wondered which industry pays the best in Singapore? Well according to the Jun 2013 Monthly Digest of Statistics Singapore, it was Finance and Insurance industry with the average monthly salary of SGD $10,779. This was partly due to the year end bonus of course. Yet during the normal months in 2012, the average monthly income for this industry per employee fluctuated between SGD $7,544 (monthly average in Q3 2012) – SGD $8,178 (monthly average in Q4 2012).

Do you know how much an average employee in Singapore earns? $2.5k? $3k? Nah, it is actually $4,948 in Q1, 2013.

The lowest monthly income industry is Accommodation and Food Services, which was at $1,709.

Industry	Monthly Average Earning Q1 2013
Manufacturing	SGD5,056
Construction	SGD3,799
Wholesale & Retail Trade	SGD4,422
Transportation & Storage	SGD4,492
Accommodation & Food Services	SGD1,709
Information & Communications	SGD6,341
Financial & Insurance Services	SGD10,779
Real Estate Services	SGD3,667
Professional Services	SGD6,271
Administrative & Support	SGD2,315
Community, Social & Personal Services	SGD4,940
Average	SGD4,948
Note: below average

On average, monthly income in Singapore per employee increased in Q1 this year (SGD $4,948) in comparison to Q1, 2012 (SGD $4,717).

2. Singapore government has been very strict with Permanent Resident (PR) application since 2009

My friends in Singapore have been telling me that Singapore policy regarding Permanent Resident (PR) application has changed massively against foreigners since 2009. The income criteria is much higher than before and foreign students after successfully completed a degree in NTU, NUS or SMU are no longer offered PR Application Letter. This has been the consensus amongst friends and on the news. I have no hard data about this until I looked at the number of Singapore PR over the years.

As you can see from the graph above, the number of Singapore PR remains more or less unchanged since 2009 at 533k PRs. Between 2006 – 2009, the number of Singaporean PR increased by about 120 thousands PRs, which is about 30% increase.

3. Chinese is still the main ethnic group in Singapore in 2013

Singaporean Chinese is still at about 74% of the population, followed by Malays and Indians.

However, when it comes to live-births, there are ONLY about 63% of the number of new born babies Chinese.

It seems that OTHERS ethnics group when they become PR in Singapore, they tend to give birth much more than Singaporean Chinese. Many of my Vietnamese friends who are PR in Singapore, get married and have babies there 😀

4. While Singapore Monthly Average Income is much higher compared to Vietnam, the retail prices of selected daily items are “CHEAPER” than Vietnam’s.

I know this may not be a really Apple to Apple comparison but I would still want to highlight this so that you could draw your own conclusion. Not all of the items are cheaper in absolute dollars than in Vietnam

I will include the Vietnamese translation of the items as well so that everyone could understand 🙂 I hope it is alright.

The retail prices in Singapore was for May 2013.

Exchange rate from SGD to VND by Vietcombank on 05JUL 2013: 1 SGD = 16,467 Vietnamese Dong.

4.1 Rice & Other Cereals (Gạo và các mặt hàng ngũ cốc)

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Thai Rice 100% Fragrant (Gạo Thái thơm 100%)	10 kg	SGD25.82	₫425,178
Instant Noodles (Mì gói)	1 package	SGD0.44	₫7,278
Ordinary White Bread (Bánh mì gối bình thường)	400 g	SGD1.49	₫24,536
Vitamin Enriched Bread	400 g	SGD1.64	₫27,006
High Fibre Bread	400 g	SGD2.20	₫36,227

4.2 Meat & Poultry (các loại thịt)

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Chilled Lean Pork (Thịt lợn thăn)	1 kg	13.14	₫216,376
Chilled Streaky Pork	1 kg	14.57	₫239,924
Chilled Pork Rib Bones	1 kg	16.40	₫270,059
Chilled Beef (Bò đông lạnh)	1 kg	20.96	₫345,148
Chilled Mutton (thịt cừu đông lạnh)	1 kg	17.79	₫292,948
Hen (gà)	1 kg	5.82	₫95,838
Duck (vịt)	1 kg	6.87	₫113,128
Chilled Chicken Wing (cánh gà)	Each	0.68	₫11,198

4.3 Seafood (đồ hải sản)

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
White Pomfret	1 kg	23.56	₫387,963
Flowery Grouper	1 kg	14.22	₫234,161
Kurau (cut)	1 kg	48.36	₫796,344
Gold Banded Scad (kuning)	1 kg	6.37	₫104,895
Spanish Mackerel (tenggiri)	1 kg	10.65	₫175,374
Golden Snapper	1 kg	17.28	₫284,550
Sea Bream (kerisi)	1 kg	8.32	₫137,005
Sea Bass	1 kg	12.14	₫199,909
Cod Fish	1 kg	49.80	₫820,057
Salmon	1 kg	26.34	₫433,741
Small Prawns	1 kg	11.76	₫193,652
Medium Prawns	1 kg	17.64	₫290,478
Large Prawns	1 kg	24.76	₫407,723
Squids	1 kg	11.74	₫193,323
Fish Balls	Per 10	1.9	₫31,287

4.4 Dairy Products & Eggs (Sữa và Trứng)

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Fresh Milk (Sữa tươi)	1 litre Package (Hộp 1 lít)	2.88	₫47,425
Condensed Milk (Sữa đặc có đường)	400g tin (hộp 400g)	1.62	₫26,677
Infant Milk Powder (Sữa trẻ em)	900 g tin (hộp 900 g)	43.44	₫715,326
Cheese (pho mai)	Package of 12 slides (gói 12 miếng)	4.84	₫79,700
Ice-cream (kem)	1.5 Litre Tub (hũ 1.5 lít)	6.2	₫102,095
Hen Eggs (trứng gà)	Per 10 (10 quả trứng)	1.95	₫32,111

 

4.5 Vegetables (rau)

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Cabbage	1 kg	1.95	₫32,111
Spinach (bayam)	1 kg	2.88	₫47,425
Small Mustard	1 kg	3.17	₫52,200
Kale	1 kg	4.41	₫72,619
Broccoli	1 kg	7.7	₫126,796
Tomatoes	1 kg	1.94	₫31,946
Potatoes	1 kg	1.75	₫28,817
Carrots	1 kg	1.95	₫32,111

 

4.6 Fresh Fruits

 

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Papaya	1 kg	1.77	₫29,147
Bananas	1 kg	1.76	₫28,982
Watermelon	1 kg	1.42	₫23,383
Grapes	1 kg	8.41	₫138,487
Orange	Each	0.37	₫6,093
Apple	Each	0.43	₫7,081
Pear	Each	0.98	₫16,138

4.7 Petroleum Related Products

Item	Unit	May 2013 (Singapore Dollars)	Tháng 5 2013 (Vietnam Dong)
Diesel (Dầu Diezen)	Per Litre (1 lít)	1.43	₫23,548
Petrol, 98 Octance (Xăng 98)	Per Litre (1 lít)	2.11	₫34,745
Petrol, 95 Octance (Xăng 95)	Per Litre (1 lít)	1.96	₫32,275
Petrol, 92 Octance (Xăng 92)	Per Litre (1 lít)	1.91	₫31,452
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Ga)	Per kg	3.05	₫50,224

Thats all from me. Feel free to drop any comments.

Thanks,

Chandler