World's highest paid Prime Minister received a 64% pay hike earning seven times more than US President Donald Trump

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong will get a 64 percent pay raise starting October 15, pushing his annual salary to S$3.6 million, or roughly $2.8 million. According to Reuters, this makes Wong's pay about seven times higher than the $400,000 annual salary drawn by US President Donald Trump.

The increase widens a gap that already existed. Singapore's prime minister was ranked the world's highest paid head of government even before this hike, according to data from non-profit PoliticalSalaries.com. The same dataset places Hong Kong's chief executive second at $719,000 a year, followed by Switzerland's president at $606,000, both still a fraction of Wong's new salary.

A raise Wong called "difficult and emotive"

Speaking in parliament, Wong acknowledged the political sensitivity of the topic himself, Reuters reported. He said the amount involved was far more than what most citizens earn, and that he understood why Singaporeans scrutinise the numbers closely. The median Singaporean worker earned S$5,775 a month in 2025, a figure Wong referenced directly while defending the hike.


To soften the reaction, Wong announced he would donate his personal salary increase to charity for the next five years. But he maintained the raise was about more than his own pay. He framed it as a question of whether Singapore could continue attracting the quality of political leadership needed to govern effectively.

Junior ministers get phased increases too

The pay hike isn't limited to the prime minister. A Singapore junior minister currently earning S$1.1 million a year could eventually earn up to S$1.8 million under the new structure. That increase won't happen all at once, Reuters noted. It will begin with a one-off rise of up to 9 percent, with further increases tied to individual performance and responsibilities. By the end of the current term of government, most junior ministers are expected to earn around S$1.35 million, with high performers able to move higher still.

A decade of frozen and cut salaries

Singapore last revised ministerial pay in 2012, when salaries were cut by 36 percent following public discontent over how much political leaders earned. A subsequent review in 2017 recommended raising salaries again, but the government chose not to act on it. A further review, due in 2023, was deferred because of economic uncertainty at the time.

Wong said it would have been "easier politically" to leave salaries untouched, but argued that would not have been the right call, since pay in the private sector, civil service, and judicial service had all risen since 2012.

Pay benchmarked against top earners

Singapore uses the salaries of the country's top 1,000 earners as a benchmark for ministerial pay. According to the city-state's public service division, this is meant to ensure political salaries reflect the calibre of people Singapore needs in government.

The high-pay model has long been defended on two fronts: attracting top talent into public service, and reducing the risk of corruption among senior officials. Reuters noted that graft cases involving Singapore's political leadership have historically been rare. One notable exception came in 2024, when former transport minister S. Iswaran was jailed for obstructing justice and accepting more than $300,000 worth of gifts.

Parliament is set to debate the salary revision on Thursday. Opposition parties have not yet issued formal statements on the matter, according to Reuters.