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The topic of ministerial salaries in Singapore has garnered a lot of attention in recent weeks, after it was announced that the baseline salary grades for the cabinet would be increased by 64% for the first time in 15 years.
As a result, the fundamental MR4 grade—based on which all other salaries are calculated—would jump from S$1.1 million to S$1.8 million.
This sounds like a massive boost for the world’s already best paid ministers. Who else gets a raise of over 60%?
Well, not many people—and neither do ministers, at least not immediately.
The number will remain only as a future reference, while the immediate pay bump will be limited to just 9% effective Oct 2026, raising the MR4 level to S$1.2 million.
This, mind you, is the first pay rise they received since 2011.
Inflation bites everyone
There’s a reason the Government is making this adjustment now, 15 years after the last one.
Cabinet salaries have been gradually eroded by inflation over the years, with their real value now at one of the lowest levels since the landmark 2000 pay reform that introduced the MR4 system.
The entry-level ministerial pay was already at around S$1 million 25 years ago.
Today, even the newly revised S$1.2 million MR4 benchmark is worth just S$750,000 in 2000 money, back when Singapore’s GDP per capita was mere US$24,000 and budget revenues were around S$34 billion—four times less than today.
Prior to 2011, the salaries were also benchmarked to the top earners in the private sector, though they were adjusted regularly in line with the collected data as well as the economic situation—with a few notable cuts during the post 9/11 panic in 2001, the SARS epidemic in 2003, or the financial crisis of 2008/2009.
It is also when they were at their peak, in the good years.
Following the 2011 election, which saw the Workers’ Party win its first GRC, the Government introduced a new methodology for calculating political salaries. The result was a substantial cut in ministerial pay, and it ended up freezing them for, as it turned out, another 15 years.
Meanwhile, compounding inflation has progressively eroded their value, pushing them below what they used to be even in much less prosperous times.
As a result, as of 2026, ministerial salaries in Singapore have reached their lowest level on record—lower than at any time since the 2000 reform.
What’s more, even the 9% increment that’s due to kick in next month, as well as the official forecast that all ministers would eventually reach a S$1.35 million base by the end of the term in 2030, will do little other than preserve the status quo.
Given the uncertainty surrounding energy prices and artificial intelligence, inflation may return to moderate levels for the foreseeable future. It has already jumped back up to 2.2% and is likely not the end yet.
At an average rate of 2.5% to 3% annually, ministerial salaries would essentially remain stuck in place in real terms even if they nominally increase to S$1.35 million in the next four years. If they do not, their value will keep going down.
Singaporeans outpace their ministers
An even more interesting comparison might be one putting ministerial incomes next to the median income from work earned by the public.
Back in 2000, the median income for residents was around S$2,200. This year, it is expected to hit around S$6,000. In nominal terms, therefore, it is almost three times what it used to be.
When we correct it for inflation, which eats into purchasing power, real median incomes have grown by 70%.
Meanwhile, ministerial salaries have largely been frozen at the same nominal level for 25 years, eaten away by inflation—dropping their real value by 23%, to just 77% of what they were worth at the turn of the century.
At the same time, both the GDP per capita and national budget revenues have quadrupled in size.
You’d struggle to find executives in any private sector company who would have accepted getting paid less and less despite an overall four times growth in the business.
For political reasons, Singapore ministers might want to be careful in adjusting their own salaries. But the figures show that they seem to be rather underpaid.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singapore’s current affairs here.
Featured Image Credit: Singapore’s cabinet reshuffle (Jul 2026)/ MDDI
