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Singapore Digital Economy Report 2024

by | Oct 6, 2025 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Overall Economic Impact

GDP Contribution: $128.1 billion (18.6% of GDP) in 2024

  • Increased from 18% in 2023 and 14.9% in 2019
  • Growth of $12 billion in 2024

Employment

Tech Jobs Created: 214,000 positions in 2024

  • Up from 208,300 in 2023
  • Median monthly wage for tech workers: $7,950 (vs $4,860 for other occupations)

Fastest Growing Job Roles

  • Artificial Intelligence and data-related positions
  • Cybersecurity roles

Employment Distribution

  • Non-I&C sectors: 3.9% growth in tech jobs
  • I&C sector: 1.1% growth in tech jobs

Key Growth Drivers

The bulk of digital economy contributions came from digitalisation across non-tech sectors, particularly:

  1. Finance and insurance (largest contributor)
  2. Wholesale trade
  3. Manufacturing

In-Demand Tech Skills

High Demand Skills (2024)

  • Python: Required in ~25% of tech job postings (up 9 percentage points from 2019)
  • SQL: Required in ~20% of postings (up 5 percentage points from 2019)
  • Cloud platforms and scalable digital infrastructure
  • AI skills: Machine learning, natural language processing, neural networks (14% of postings, up from 11% in 2019)

Declining Demand

  • Web development skills like JavaScript showed reduced prominence

Digital Adoption Rates

Overall Enterprise Adoption

  • 95.1% of firms adopted at least one digital area in 2024 (up from 94.6% in 2023)
  • Six measured digital areas: cybersecurity, cloud, e-payment, e-commerce, data analytics, and AI

SME Progress

  • Digital adoption intensity: 2.3 digital areas per firm (up from 2.0 in 2023)
  • Represents the largest jump in years

AI Adoption Surge

SMEs

  • 14.5% adoption rate in 2024 (tripled from 4.2% in 2023)
  • Primarily driven by off-the-shelf generative AI tools

Non-SMEs

  • 62.5% adoption rate (up from 44% in 2023)

AI Use Cases

  • IT operations
  • Customer service
  • Finance and accounting

Worker AI Usage

Survey of 320 workers (May-June 2024):

  • Nearly 3 in 4 use AI tools at work almost daily

Common AI Applications

  • 58% – Brainstorming and ideation
  • ~50% – Writing and editing
  • 42% – Administrative tasks

Cited Benefits

  • Efficiency gains
  • Enhanced creativity and innovation
  • Capability development

Future Focus

According to IMDA’s Deputy Chief Executive Kiren Kumar, Singapore is building foundations for:

  • Embodied AI
  • Agentic AI
  • Quantum computing and communications

Source: Singapore Digital Economy Report 2024 (3rd Edition), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Published October 6, 2025

Singapore’s digital economy has reached a significant milestone in 2024, contributing $128.1 billion or 18.6% to the nation’s GDP while creating 214,000 high-value tech jobs. This comprehensive analysis examines the forces driving this growth, the transformation occurring across sectors, and what it means for Singapore’s economic future.

The Scale of Digital Transformation

A Four-Year Growth Story

The numbers tell a compelling story of acceleration. In 2019, Singapore’s digital economy accounted for 14.9% of GDP. By 2024, this figure reached 18.6%—a 3.7 percentage point increase representing billions in economic value creation. The $12 billion growth in 2024 alone demonstrates that digital transformation isn’t just continuing; it’s intensifying.

To put this in perspective, Singapore’s digital economy now rivals or exceeds entire economic sectors. At 18.6% of GDP, the digital economy’s contribution is comparable to the combined output of several traditional industries, underscoring how digital technologies have become foundational to economic activity rather than peripheral.

The Non-Tech Revolution

Perhaps the most significant finding in the IMDA report is where growth is actually occurring. Contrary to what many might expect, the bulk of digital economy expansion isn’t coming from Silicon Valley-style tech startups or pure-play technology companies. Instead, it’s being driven by traditional sectors embracing digitalization.

The finance and insurance sector leads this transformation, followed by wholesale trade and manufacturing. This pattern reveals a fundamental truth about modern economic development: digital transformation is less about creating new tech companies and more about reimagining existing industries through technology.

Consider what this means practically. A traditional bank implementing AI-powered fraud detection, a manufacturing facility deploying IoT sensors for predictive maintenance, or a wholesale distributor using data analytics for inventory optimization—these aren’t tech companies, but they’re driving the digital economy’s growth. This democratization of technology is perhaps Singapore’s greatest digital achievement.

The Employment Landscape: Quality Over Quantity

214,000 Tech Jobs and Growing

Despite a globally cautious tech hiring environment in 2024, Singapore’s tech workforce expanded from 208,300 to 214,000 professionals. This 2.7% growth occurred against a backdrop of tech layoffs in major global markets, suggesting Singapore’s digital economy possesses resilience and structural strength.

More revealing is where these jobs are appearing. Non-I&C sectors saw 3.9% growth in tech positions, nearly quadruple the 1.1% growth within the traditional tech sector. This disparity illuminates a crucial trend: every company is becoming a technology company. Banks need data scientists, manufacturers need automation engineers, and retailers need AI specialists. The distinction between “tech jobs” and “other jobs” is blurring.

The Premium on Digital Skills

The wage differential is stark and telling. Tech workers in Singapore earn a median monthly wage of $7,950, compared to $4,860 for all other occupations—a 63% premium. This isn’t just a reflection of supply and demand; it’s a market signal about value creation in a digital economy.

This wage gap has important implications. It creates powerful incentives for workers to acquire digital skills, helps Singapore compete globally for talent, and suggests that digital transformation generates genuine productivity gains that translate into higher compensation. However, it also raises questions about inequality and the need for widespread digital upskilling to ensure inclusive growth.

The Skills Revolution: Python, Cloud, and AI

Programming Languages as Power Tools

The data on in-demand skills reveals which technologies are actually reshaping work, not just generating hype. Python’s rise is particularly instructive. Now required in approximately 25% of tech job postings—up 9 percentage points from 2019—Python has become the lingua franca of modern data-driven work.

Why Python? Its versatility explains everything. Python powers data analytics that helps businesses understand customer behavior, automates repetitive workflows that free humans for creative work, and builds machine learning models that make predictions and recommendations. When one skill appears across such diverse applications, it signals fundamental utility rather than passing trend.

SQL’s prominence (20% of postings) reinforces this pattern. As organizations accumulate vast data reserves, the ability to query, manipulate, and extract insights from databases becomes increasingly valuable. Together, Python and SQL represent the core capabilities for turning data into decisions.

The Cloud Infrastructure Imperative

The marked increase in demand for cloud platform skills reflects a profound architectural shift in how businesses operate. Cloud-native infrastructure offers scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency that on-premise systems cannot match. More importantly, cloud platforms enable rapid deployment of new digital services and experimentation with emerging technologies.

This trend aligns with global patterns but has particular significance for Singapore. As a small nation with limited physical resources, Singapore’s economic model has always relied on efficiency and leveraging external ecosystems. Cloud computing extends this logic into the digital realm—why build your own data centers when you can leverage global infrastructure?

Conversely, the declining prominence of traditional web development skills like JavaScript (in isolation) suggests market maturation. Basic web presence is now table stakes; the frontier has moved to AI, data analytics, and cloud-native applications.

AI Skills: From Niche to Necessary

AI-related skills grew from 11% of tech job postings in 2019 to 14% in 2024. While seemingly modest, this growth occurred across all sectors and represents a fundamental shift. The I&C sector saw a near-fourfold increase in AI-related postings, from 1,020 to over 4,030.

Machine learning, natural language processing, and neural networks are transitioning from specialized research domains to practical business tools. When 14% of tech job postings require AI skills, it indicates that AI has crossed the chasm from innovation to implementation.

Enterprise Digital Adoption: The SME Story

Near-Universal Baseline Adoption

At 95.1%, digital adoption among enterprises is essentially universal. The measured areas—cybersecurity, cloud, e-payment, e-commerce, data analytics, and AI—represent foundational digital capabilities. That almost every firm has adopted at least one indicates that digital transformation is no longer optional; it’s survival.

However, the more meaningful metric is adoption intensity: how many digital areas firms use on average. Here, SMEs showed remarkable progress, jumping from 2.0 to 2.3 digital areas in a single year—the largest increase recorded.

This SME progress is economically significant. Small and medium enterprises form the backbone of Singapore’s economy, employing the majority of workers. Their digital transformation directly impacts national productivity and competitiveness. The acceleration from 2.0 to 2.3 areas suggests that government support programs, improved tool accessibility, and market pressure are combining to drive rapid SME digitalization.

The AI Adoption Explosion

If any single statistic captures the current moment, it’s this: AI adoption among SMEs tripled from 4.2% to 14.5% in one year. Among larger enterprises, adoption jumped from 44% to 62.5%. These aren’t incremental changes; they’re tipping points.

What’s driving this surge? Primarily, accessible generative AI tools. ChatGPT, launched in late 2022, democratized AI by making sophisticated language capabilities available through simple interfaces. Suddenly, small businesses without data science teams could leverage AI for content creation, customer service, and business analysis.

The use cases reveal practical value. Businesses deploy AI for IT operations (improving system reliability), customer service (handling routine inquiries), and finance and accounting (automating reconciliation and reporting). These aren’t futuristic applications; they’re solving today’s problems.

Worker Experience: AI in Daily Work

The Daily AI Reality

The IMDA survey of 320 workers provides ground truth about how AI is actually being used. Nearly three in four workers report using AI tools almost daily—a stunning penetration rate that suggests AI has rapidly become as routine as email or spreadsheets.

The top uses illuminate how AI augments human capability:

  • 58% use AI for brainstorming and ideation: AI serves as a thinking partner, helping overcome creative blocks and generating diverse perspectives
  • ~50% use AI for writing and editing: From drafting emails to polishing reports, AI accelerates communication
  • 42% use AI for administrative tasks: Summarizing documents, organizing information, and handling routine paperwork

Workers cite efficiency gains, enhanced creativity, and capability development as primary benefits. This positive reception matters. Technology adoption often faces resistance, but when workers experience genuine productivity improvements, adoption accelerates organically.

Structural Analysis: What’s Really Happening

Beyond Sector: A Systemic Transformation

Analyzing the data holistically reveals that Singapore isn’t just adding digital capabilities to an industrial-era economy. It’s fundamentally restructuring how economic value is created and captured.

First, the boundary between digital and non-digital sectors is dissolving. When manufacturers use AI for quality control, financial services firms become software companies, and retailers compete on data analytics capabilities, traditional industry classifications lose meaning. Singapore is moving toward an economy where digital capability pervades every sector.

Second, the skills premium for tech workers indicates that digital transformation genuinely increases productivity. If digitalization merely redistributed existing value, we wouldn’t see sustained wage premiums. The fact that organizations willingly pay 63% more for tech talent suggests these workers generate substantially more value—through automation, enhanced decision-making, or new product creation.

Third, the rapid AI adoption curve suggests Singapore has achieved sufficient digital maturity that new technologies can diffuse quickly. When 95% of firms have baseline digital capabilities, introducing AI builds on existing infrastructure rather than requiring wholesale transformation. This creates a compounding effect where each wave of innovation accelerates the next.

The Data Infrastructure Foundation

Underlying all these trends is an often-overlooked foundation: data infrastructure. The prominence of Python, SQL, and data analytics skills reflects that modern business competition increasingly happens in data space. Companies that can collect, store, analyze, and act on data faster and better than competitors gain decisive advantages.

Singapore’s emphasis on data-related skills and cloud infrastructure positions the economy to capitalize on AI’s potential. AI models require vast amounts of data for training and deployment. Organizations with mature data practices can rapidly adopt AI; those without struggle. The fact that data analytics adoption has reached high levels across enterprises means Singapore’s business ecosystem is well-prepared for the AI era.

Future Outlook: Opportunities and Challenges

The Frontier Technologies Pipeline

IMDA Deputy Chief Executive Kiren Kumar’s mention of embodied AI, agentic AI, and quantum computing signals Singapore’s forward-looking strategy. These aren’t current mainstream technologies but represent the next frontier.

Embodied AI—artificial intelligence integrated into physical robots and systems—could transform manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. Singapore’s strength in advanced manufacturing and smart city initiatives provides natural application domains.

Agentic AI—systems that can set goals and work autonomously toward them—represents a leap beyond current AI tools. Instead of assisting human decision-making, agentic AI could handle complete workflows. This raises profound questions about work, autonomy, and economic structure.

Quantum computing and communications remain largely experimental but promise revolutionary capabilities in cryptography, drug discovery, financial modeling, and optimization. Singapore’s investments in quantum research position it to capitalize when these technologies mature.

Economic Resilience in Uncertain Times

Singapore’s digital economy demonstrated resilience in 2024 despite global tech sector turbulence. This resilience stems from several factors:

  1. Diversified growth: Because growth comes from digitalization across sectors rather than a single tech industry, Singapore’s digital economy isn’t vulnerable to tech sector-specific shocks
  2. Practical focus: The emphasis on solving real business problems (efficiency, customer service, operations) rather than speculative ventures creates sustainable value
  3. Government support: IMDA’s programs providing expertise and funding for AI adoption reduce adoption barriers and risk for businesses
  4. Skills development: Continuous emphasis on upskilling ensures talent supply meets demand

However, maintaining this trajectory requires addressing several challenges.

The Talent Imperative

With tech workers commanding 63% wage premiums, talent attraction and retention becomes critical. Singapore competes globally for top tech talent while also needing to develop domestic capabilities. The challenge intensifies as demand for AI and data skills accelerates.

The solution requires multi-pronged approaches: enhancing education in digital skills from young ages, providing reskilling pathways for workers in declining occupations, attracting global talent through competitive compensation and quality of life, and ensuring inclusive access to digital skills training to prevent widening inequality.

The SME Challenge

While SME digital adoption has accelerated, smaller firms still lag larger enterprises in AI adoption (14.5% vs 62.5%). This gap matters because SMEs employ most workers and generate significant economic value. If digital transformation primarily benefits large firms, inequality increases and aggregate productivity suffers.

Closing this gap requires making AI tools more accessible, affordable, and understandable for small business owners who may lack technical expertise. Government programs can help, but sustainable solutions require market-driven innovations that package AI capabilities into simple, cost-effective tools for SME needs.

The Productivity Paradox

Despite massive digital investments, productivity growth across advanced economies has disappointed. Singapore must ensure its digital transformation generates genuine productivity gains rather than merely digital activity.

This requires focusing on technologies that truly augment human capability rather than creating busywork, measuring outcomes rather than inputs (are we achieving more, not just doing more digital things?), and ensuring workers gain new skills rather than being displaced, so productivity gains translate into broadly shared prosperity.

Regulatory Adaptation

As AI becomes pervasive, regulatory frameworks must evolve. Singapore must balance encouraging innovation with managing risks around data privacy, algorithmic bias, job displacement, and systemic vulnerabilities. Getting this balance right determines whether Singapore can maintain its reputation as both innovative and trustworthy.

Strategic Implications for Stakeholders

For Businesses

The report’s findings suggest clear strategic imperatives:

Invest in data infrastructure now: Companies lagging in data maturity will struggle to adopt AI effectively. Building robust data collection, storage, and governance systems is foundational.

Prioritize AI upskilling: With AI adoption accelerating, competitive advantage flows to organizations that can effectively leverage these tools. This requires training existing staff, not just hiring specialists.

Embrace cloud-native architecture: The shift toward cloud platforms reflects genuine advantages in scalability and flexibility. Businesses clinging to on-premise infrastructure risk technical debt.

Focus on business outcomes: Technology adoption should solve real problems and generate measurable value. Avoid digitalization for its own sake.

For Workers

Individual career strategies should account for digital economy realities:

Acquire foundational data skills: Python and SQL are increasingly valuable across occupations, not just technical roles. Basic data literacy becomes as essential as traditional literacy.

Embrace AI as a tool: Workers who learn to effectively use AI tools gain productivity advantages. The goal isn’t competing with AI but complementing it.

Develop uniquely human skills: As AI handles routine tasks, creativity, complex problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and strategic thinking become more valuable.

Commit to continuous learning: The half-life of technical skills continues shrinking. Career success requires ongoing skill development.

For Policymakers

Sustaining digital economy growth requires thoughtful policy interventions:

Expand digital skills training: Both initial education and reskilling programs need significant investment to ensure inclusive participation in the digital economy.

Support SME digitalization: Targeted programs that reduce costs and complexity of adopting digital tools help ensure broad-based growth.

Invest in digital infrastructure: Reliable, affordable connectivity and data infrastructure form the foundation for all digital activity.

Develop adaptive regulations: Regulatory frameworks must protect against risks while allowing innovation to flourish—a delicate balance requiring ongoing calibration.

Foster innovation ecosystems: Beyond infrastructure and skills, cultivating networks that connect entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and established companies accelerates innovation.

Conclusion: Singapore’s Digital Destiny

The 2024 Digital Economy Report reveals Singapore at an inflection point. Digital technologies have evolved from specialized tools to foundational infrastructure pervading every economic sector. The question is no longer whether to embrace digital transformation but how quickly and effectively to do so.

Singapore’s progress is impressive: near-universal digital adoption, rapidly growing AI integration, strong tech employment growth despite global headwinds, and wages signaling genuine productivity gains. The city-state has successfully positioned itself as a digital hub in Southeast Asia and globally.

However, sustaining this success requires navigating significant challenges. The AI revolution is still unfolding, and its ultimate impact on work, skills, and economic structure remains uncertain. Ensuring small businesses and individual workers can participate fully in digital opportunities will determine whether growth is broad-based or concentrates benefits narrowly. Competition for tech talent will intensify as every country pursues digital strategies.

Most fundamentally, Singapore must continue innovating not just technologically but institutionally. The digital economy demands new forms of education, different regulatory approaches, and evolved social contracts. Success requires not just adopting technologies but reimagining how society organizes work, learning, and value creation.

The foundations are strong. Singapore’s combination of digital infrastructure, skilled workforce, supportive government policies, and business ecosystem positions it to thrive in an increasingly digital global economy. The nation’s focus on frontier technologies like embodied AI and quantum computing signals ambition to lead rather than follow.

Yet the digital economy’s ultimate trajectory remains unwritten. The coming years will determine whether Singapore can translate technological capabilities into sustainable, inclusive prosperity. The 2024 report provides cause for optimism but also highlights the immense work ahead. Singapore’s digital destiny depends on choices made today—by businesses, workers, educators, and policymakers—to build an economy that harnesses technology’s potential while managing its challenges.

The digital economy isn’t a distant future; it’s today’s reality. Singapore has embraced this reality more fully than most nations. The question now is whether it can maintain momentum, adapt to rapid change, and ensure that digital transformation serves broad prosperity rather than narrow interests. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but Singapore’s track record suggests it’s well-equipped for the challenge ahead.