Hong Kong's bankers out-earned Singapore's once again
Hong Kong and Singapore are two cities with a lot in common. They’re both big financial services centers, for one. They’re both highly economically integrated global cities. Unfortunately, on one key metric, they aren’t equal.
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Our ’24 - ’25 salary and bonus report, which surveyed 2,500 financial services professionals worldwide (including APAC), was quite definitive in its findings: professionals based in Hong Kong earned more than ones based in Singapore, although the difference wasn’t huge.
Last year, the average bonus across the APAC region increased 22%. However, the increase was not equally distributed. The average bonus in Singapore increased 25% - while that in Hong Kong increased by 40%. Hong Kong-based professionals also enjoyed higher salaries than their Singaporean counterparts.
At almost every level of seniority, total compensation (salary plus bonus) was higher in Hong Kong. Average compensation for a financial services professional in the city was US$208k; in Singapore, it was US$195k.
Most of the difference between the two came from experience. Hong Kong respondents were especially well rewarded at senior levels last year, with bonuses increasing by 102% for directors and 50% for MDs. This was substantially higher than the bonus increases awarded in Singapore.
It’s worth noting, however, that bonus numbers at managing director level are skewed by the comparatively small sample size. Hong Kong managing director salaries are also notably higher than in Singapore, likely due to the higher proportion of high paying front office roles there.
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