Admin services hit by 5.3% labor cost surge as productivity falls

Retail and F&B saw rising labour costs outpacing productivity.

Administrative and support services recorded the highest unit labour cost (ULC) change by sector in 2025, at 5.3%, driven by rising total labour cost (TLC) per worker and falling productivity, according to data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

Retail trade followed closely with a 4.0% increase, due to TLC per worker growth outstripping productivity gains, whilst food and beverage services rose 3.8%.

Other sectoral ULC changes included accommodation at 3.4%, professional services at 3.3%, other services industries at 2.5%, transportation and storage at 1.3%, and finance and insurance at 1.2%.

Services-producing industries recorded a 0.6% increase, and construction rose 2.9%, as TLC per worker growth exceeded productivity gains, the report said.

The real estate sector declined by 1.3%, wholesale trade fell 2.8%, and information and communications decreased 3.5%. Manufacturing recorded a 4.3% ULC decline, as productivity gains offset TLC per worker increases.

The ULC for the economy recorded no change in 2025, moderating from a 1.3% increase in 2024, MTI said.

A 3.4% rise in TLC per worker was offset by a 3.5% gain in labour productivity. Remuneration per worker contributed 3.2 percentage points to the TLC increase.

Projections for 2026 indicate a ULC increase, stemming from a moderation in productivity growth and stable labour market conditions that maintain remuneration per worker growth at a pace similar to 2025.

Follow the link for more news on

Ministry of Trade and Industry

Chart of the Day

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia