Things are getting expensive, but is your income increasing at a rate that matches inflation?
The following are the official annual CPI inflation rates for Singapore since 1980, published by The Department of Statistics (government agency).
Inflation figures:
1980 to 1989: 8.5% 8.2% 3.9% 1.2% 2.6% 0.5% -1.4% 0.5% 1.5% 2.4%
1990 to 1999: 3.4% 3.4% 2.3% 2.3% 3.1% 1.7% 1.4% 2% -0.3% 0%
2000 to 2009: 1.3% 1% -0.4% 0.5% 1.7% 0.5% 1% 2.1% 6.6% 0.6%
2010 to 2014: 2.8% 5.2% 4.6% 2.4% 1%
Each number may not seem high, but over the years, the numbers have a cumulative effect that is significant enough to surprise people.
For example, a starting pay of $3,000 in 2014 is equivalent ......