Singapore - Total Employment





Singapore: Total Employment

Mnemonic ETOT.ISGP
Unit Ths. #, End
Annual 0.1 %
Data 2017 3,669
2016 3,673

Series Information

Source Ministry of Manpower (MOM)
Release Labour Force
Frequency Annual (June)
Start Date 12/31/1994
End Date 12/31/2017

Singapore: Labor

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Unemployment 2023 Q4 71.3 76.1 Ths. #, NSA Quarterly
Unemployment Rate 2023 Q4 2 2 %, SA Quarterly
Wage & Salaries 2023 Q4 6,792 6,153 SGD, NSA Quarterly
Secondary Industries Employment 2022 484 450.2 Ths. # EOP Annual
Tertiary Industries Employment 2022 2,886 2,761 Ths. # EOP Annual
Labor Force 30 Jun 2022 3,754 3,607 Ths. # 365 days
Labor Force Employment 30 Jun 2022 3,656 3,483 Ths. # 365 days
Agriculture Employment 2017 3,887 3,851 # Annual
Total Employment 2017 3,669 3,673 Ths. #, End Annual

Release Information

For Singapore: labor force, unemployment and employment by industry. Annual from 1990.

Employment data comprise all persons in employment i.e. employees and the self-employed. However, it excludes men who are serving their two-year full-time national service liability in the Singapore Armed Forces, Police and Civil Defence Forces.

In Singapore, employment statistics are compiled from two major sources:

(1) Administrative records, where 

  • local employee data are compiled from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board’s administrative records,  
  • data on foreigners working in Singapore are compiled from administrative records of foreigners on valid work passes issued by the Ministry of Manpower, and  
  • self-employed data are estimated from the Labour Force Survey.

(2) Comprehensive Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Industrial classification: SSIC, which is revised every five years.

Only seasonally adjusted figures are revised.

SSIC 2015 has 22 sections (numbered A to V), but labor data are typically reported as 10 industry branches which include single sections and aggregates. There are three residual categories that may appear, but are not always defined:

  • Other goods, defined in Economic Survey of Singapore (MTI, 2010) as agriculture, fishery and quarrying.
  • Other services, defined in (ibid) as utilities, sewerage and waste management.
  • Other, defined in Employment Trend and Structure (MOM, 2004) as agriculture, fishery, quarrying and utilities. 

Some countries report a "total" which is actually "non-agricultural employment", but since agriculture accounts for only