Singapore’s digital economy grew by S$12 billion ($9.27 billion), expanding to a total of S$128.1 billion ($98.98 billion) in 2024, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said Monday.
IMDA said in a statement that this accounts for 18.6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), up from 18 percent in 2023 and 14.9 percent in 2019.
According to IMDA’s Singapore Digital Economy (SGDE) Report 2025, more than two-thirds of Singapore’s digital economy came from non-Information & Communications (I&C) sectors.
This shows that Singapore’s digital growth is not just driven by tech companies, but by digitalization across all industries.
Among these non-I&C sectors, finance and insurance remained the largest contributor, followed by wholesale trade, and manufacturing, underscoring the critical need for all enterprises — regardless of industry — to embrace digitalization to drive growth.
According to the report, enterprises are making digitalization central to how they operate.
In 2024, the digital adoption rate rose with 95.1 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have adopted at least one digital area out of the six measured.
SMEs are leading the charge in deepening digitalization, and this is evident in several ways.
Firstly, their digital adoption intensity saw the largest jump in years, with SMEs using an average of 2.3 digital areas of the six measured, up from 2 in 2023.
Secondly, the adoption of sector-specific digital solutions, as recommended in IMDA’s Industry Digital Plans (IDPs), also increased considerably.
Almost all (97 percent) SMEs adopted at least one sector-specific solution, up from just 85 percent the year before.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s tech workforce continued to expand from 208,300 in 2023 to 214,000 in 2024, with roles related to artificial intelligence (AI) & Data and Cybersecurity among the fastest growing.
This growth was primarily driven by non-I&C sectors, reflecting the deepening of digitalization across the economy.
Tech jobs also continue to offer good wages and strong career prospects.
In 2024, the median monthly wage for resident tech workers was S$7,950 ($6,143), much higher than the overall resident median monthly wage of S$4,860 ($3,755).
The demand for specific tech skills has also shifted. Between 2019 and 2024, programming languages such as Python and SQL were among the more highly sought-after tech skills, and there was an increase in demand for skills associated with cloud platforms and scalable digital infrastructure they support.
Conversely, tech skills associated with web development became relatively less prominent.
Zeroing in on AI, the number of tech job postings requiring AI skills has steadily increased between 2019 and 2024, in tandem with the rise in AI adoption in Singapore.
This growth was driven by rise in demand across all sectors, including I&C, Finance & Insurance, Manufacturing, and Professional Services.
The report also showed AI adoption among SMEs tripled in one year.
14.5 percent of SMEs adopted AI in 2024, up from 4.2 percent in 2023.
Among non-SMEs, the AI adoption rate also jumped from 44 percent to 62.5 percent.
Those who adopt AI also gain tangibly. SMEs tapping AI-enabled solutions under the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) achieved an average cost savings of 52 percent in 2024.
SMEs that adopted AI-powered cybersecurity solutions under PSG achieved even higher average cost savings of 71 percent, highlighting the strong returns from investing in AI-enhanced security measures.
Firms are implementing AI in various tasks and across business functions.
According to an IMDA-commissioned pulse survey of enterprises, firms are applying AI tools to multiple business functions.
Besides, SMEs are using AI in an average of 3 business functions.
In contrast, non-SMEs are using AI in an average of five business functions.
The most common functions using AI were the same for both SMEs and non-SMEs: information technology (IT), customer service, and finance & accounting.
While the majority of the AI-adopting firms (84 percent) reported using off-the-shelf generative AI tools, more than half (52 percent) have adopted AI-enabled digital solutions tailored for domain-specific tasks such as human resources and accounting software.
Another 44 percent of AI-using firms have implemented customized or proprietary AI tools, showing a growing sophistication in how businesses are embedding AI into their operations.
More than two-thirds of the surveyed AI-adopting firms intend to prioritize training and upskilling their workforce in the next one to two years, while 63 percent expect to redesign jobs to better integrate AI into daily operations.
AI is now being used more in the workplace. IMDA’s recent pulse survey of working individuals found that nearly three in four workers (73.8 percent) reported using AI tools at work, with many using AI several times a week or even daily.
Among these surveyed AI users, 58 percent used AI for brainstorming and ideation, alongside writing and editing (54 percent) and administrative tasks (42 percent).
Meanwhile, AI is delivering benefits for workers across multiple dimensions.
A large majority (85 percent) of AI users reported improvements in productivity, time savings and work quality (i.e. doing work better).
Beyond such efficiency gains, nearly half of AI users (48 percent) indicated using AI to enhance their creativity (i.e. doing better work), while one-third (33 percent) saw benefits in using AI for capability development (i.e. for learning).
Employers are also actively providing support for their employees to use AI at work.
About seven in ten surveyed AI users said their employers had provided support, most often through training opportunities (62 percent), access to paid AI tools (42 percent), and clear guidelines and policies on AI use (30 percent).
“We are encouraged by the strong growth momentum of our Digital Economy, now accounting for 18.6% of Singapore’s GDP,
“We will broaden and deepen our support for sectors, enterprises and talent to harness digitalization and AI for innovation and productivity,” said Kiren Kumar, Deputy Chief Executive, IMDA.
“At the same time, we are laying the foundation for frontier technologies including Embodied AI, Agentic AI, Quantum Computing and Communications, ensuring Singapore stays competitive and inclusive in the digital future,” he added.
In partnership with government agencies, industry players, and the workforce, IMDA said it will strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading digital economy — deepening enterprise capabilities, supporting workforce transformation, and fostering innovation in emerging technologies.
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