The world’s best-paid politician is getting a $1 million pay rise

(CNN) — Singapore’s ministers are already among the world’s highest-paid politicians, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong earning more than four times US President Donald Trump’s annual government salary.

Now, Wong has been given a $1 million pay bump, with the wealthy city-state giving a big boost to ministers’ salaries for the first time in 15 years.

Announcing the pay hike in parliament Tuesday, the Singapore leader said the salary adjustment was necessary to attract talent to the public service, particularly as the gap in compensation between political leaders and private-sector executives has widened in recent years.

Wong’s annual pay package will rise nearly 64%, from S$2.2 million ($1.7 million) to S$3.6 million ($2.8 million), while other ministers will receive increases of up to 9%. Wong has pledged to donate his pay increase to charity for five years.

The Southeast Asian nation has long justified its generous political salaries as an important measure to curb corruption, which is rampant among some neighboring countries.

Singapore ranked third in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption. In comparison, the United States was placed 29th.

The announcement sparked backlash on social media in a country where high ministerial salaries are a sensitive topic, with the median monthly income at S$5,775 ($4,500) last year.

“Given the economic uncertainty and the imminent technological disruptions at workplaces, (the) announcement could come across as being tone-deaf or even self-serving,” said Eugene Tan, a political analyst and associate law professor at Singapore Management University.

Tan added that while most Singaporeans recognize that ministerial salaries cannot rival top private sector pay, they still struggle emotionally to accept their leaders earning such high salaries.

Even before the increase, Wong’s paycheck eclipsed the $400,000 given to the US president annually before taxes, and far exceeded the second-highest paid leader, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s $719,000.

Wong acknowledged that it is a “difficult and emotive issue” which will attract close scrutiny.

“We cannot avoid this issue simply because it is politically difficult, and this is not just a matter of pay,” Wong said on Tuesday.

“It is ultimately about whether Singapore will continue to have the quality of political leadership we need to take our country forward and to serve Singaporeans well in the years ahead.”

When asked for further comment, Wong’s office referred CNN to an earlier government report on the review.

Wong’s ruling People’s Action Party has maintained an unbroken grip on power since 1959. The party is often lauded for steering the tiny nation toward economic prosperity but has also been criticized for suppressing dissent.

However, in 2011, rising living costs and discontent over inequality prompted pay cuts for ministers after the party’s share of the popular vote fell to its lowest level of any general election.

The newly announced sharp increase in pay is based on an independent committee’s recommendation, which benchmarks the top 1,000 Singaporean income earners in its calculation.

Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, said it is unclear why political salaries should be pegged to such a small number of high earners.

“That sort of linkage could link the perspective of politicians more closely to the richest segment of Singapore society,” he said.

While graft cases in the public service are extremely rare in Singapore, suggesting that high salaries may help reduce incentives for corruption to some extent, Chong said they are “not completely foolproof.”

In 2024, former transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran was jailed for accepting more than $300,000 in gifts while in office.

“Very high levels of compensation may blunt the public service element of serving in political office, which should be key to elected officials,” Chong added.

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