Singapore's digital economy makes up 17.7% of GDP

Tech employment rose by 3.4% in 2023, with a median monthly salary of $7,000

- Timothy Goh

Singapore's digital economy accounted for 17.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 and provided 208,300 tech jobs, according to data released by the nation's media watchdog.

Its contribution of $113 billion marks a slight decline from 2022, when the sector contributed $115.9 billion to GDP and provided 201,100 jobs.

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 accounted for 5.7 percent of Singapore's GDP in 2023, or around $36.3 billion, up from an adjusted 5.1 percent 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.