Singapore’s digital economy contributed 17.7% to GDP in 2023; more than 200,000 jobs created

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s digital economy contributed $113 billion, or 17.7 per cent, to its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 and created 208,300 tech jobs, according to data released by the nation’s media watchdog.

The figures mark a marginal increase from 2022, when the sector accounted for $106 billion of GDP and 201,100 jobs created. The digital economy exceeds the financial services and insurance sectors in size, and is comparable to the manufacturing sector, noted the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in its annual review report on Oct 29.

The report calculates the digital economy based on two components. The first is the value-add or economic contribution of the information and communications (I&C) sector, which comprises digital services typically associated with the tech industry like telecommunications, computing and software.

The second is the value-add that non-digital industries have from embracing digital technologies and solutions.

The I&C sector alone contributed to 5.7 per cent of Singapore’s GDP in 2023, or around $36.3 billion, up from an adjusted 5.1 per cent in 2022. This was driven by sustained demand for digitalization by enterprises. The report said that the sector accounted for a third of Singapore’s digital economy and is the fastest-growing sector.

The remaining two-thirds came from value-add generated by investments in digital capital within non-digital industries. The bulk of this economic contribution, which amounted to $76.9 billion, came from the finance and insurance industry, followed by wholesale trade and manufacturing.

The digital economy’s growth has created more tech jobs, even amid a more cautious outlook in the tech sector globally and in Singapore. In 2023, tech employment rose by 3.4 per cent from the previous year to 208,300 roles, accounting for over 5 per cent of the nation’s total workforce. Tech jobs have grown by 23 per cent since 2018.

These roles offer competitive salaries and career opportunities, with resident tech workers earning a median monthly salary of 1½ times the overall resident workforce’s median monthly salary in 2023.

The median monthly wages for resident tech workers grew at a compound annual growth rate of 4 per cent from 2018 to 2023, outpacing the 3.7 per cent growth for all resident workers.

The report noted that wages of resident tech workers dipped from around $7,300 in 2022 to $7,000 in 2023 amid a more cautious outlook, but they remain above the $4,550 median for all resident workers.

When asked if tech jobs can remain on an upward trajectory given recent mass layoffs in the tech industry and macroeconomic headwinds, an IMDA spoke told The Straits Times at a media briefing on Oct 29 that Singapore has been less affected by tech layoffs as compared to others countries.

“Moving forward, we remain cautiously optimistic and we will continue to drive our programs without slowing down, because our ambition is to train and upskill Singaporeans for the opportunities that are in tech,” he said.

“There may be some seasonal blips moving forward, but we will manage them as a collective.”

The technology adoption rate among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rose to 94.6 per cent in 2023, up marginally from 94 per cent in 2022.

The report said these SMEs have adopted solutions in at least one digital area, such as cyber security, cloud computing, e-payments, e-commerce, data analytics, or artificial intelligence (AI).