Digital economy makes up 18.6% of GDP, generates 214,000 tech jobs

Growth in 2024 comes mostly from digitalisation in non-tech sectors: Report

- Lee Li Ying Correspondent

In 2024, Singapore’s digital economy grew by $12 billion, contributing $128.1 billion or 18.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), and generated 214,000 tech jobs.

Its contribution to GDP increased from 18 per cent in 2023 and 14.9 per cent in 2019.

According to the third edition of the Singapore Digital Economy Report released by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Oct 6, most of the growth came from digitalisation in non-tech sectors rather than from tech firms.

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 report found that the bulk of the contributions to Singapore’s digital economy came from digitalisation across non-I&C sectors.

The finance and insurance sector remained the largest contributor to growth, followed by wholesale trade and manufacturing.

The report also pointed out that despite the tech sector’s cautious hiring outlook globally and domestically in 2024, the number of tech professionals in Singapore continued to expand, rising from 208,300 in 2023 to 214,000 in 2024.

Job roles related to artificial intelligence (AI) and data, and cyber security were among tech jobs with the fastest growth in 2024.

Growth in the hiring of tech professionals was primarily driven by non-I&C sectors, which saw a 3.9 per cent increase in tech jobs, outpacing the 1.1 per cent growth within the I&C sector.