CPF Contribution Rates: All You Need To Know About the Latest Rates & Contribution Caps

17 Aug 2021

When I first graduated, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) was one of the biggest topics for me to understand when it comes to financial planning.

Being one of the core pillars of my retirement planning, I knew I had to master this topic to better plan for my own future.

And it can be very confusing with so many different CPF terms and schemes…

What can I say? Adulting is tough.

If you’re having trouble navigating this confusing adult maze, don’t worry because we’ve gotcha!

Since we’ve previously touched on CPF interest rates, CPF LIFE or even how the government manages our CPF money…

Today, we’ll be looking at CPF contribution and allocation rates.

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored article. The opinions expressed here are based on our understanding of existing CPF policies. Please do your diligence and check with CPF to clarify your questions before doing anything!

CPF Contribution Rates 2021

Here are the latest CPF contribution and allocation rates.

	Contribution Rate (%) for monthly wages ≥ $750			Allocation Rates (%)
Age (Years)	Employer's Contribution	Employee's Contribution	Total	OA	SA	MA
≤35	17	20	37	23	6	8
>35 - 45				21	7	9
>45 - 50				19	8	10
>50 - 55				15	11.5	10.5
>55 - 60	13	13	26	12	3.5	10.5
>60 - 65	9	7.5	16.5	3.5	2.5	10.5
>65	7.5	5	12.5	1	1	10.5

However, there will be changes to the CPF contribution rates from 1 January 2022 onwards.

Here are the upcoming changes:

Employee's age (years)	Current Contribution Rate	CPF Contribution Rates from 1 Jan 2022
	Total (% of wage)	Total (% of wage)	By Employer (% of wage)	By Employee (% of wage)
55 & below	37%	37%	17%	20%
Above 55 to 60	26%	28% (+2%)	14% (+1%)	14% (+1%)
Above 60 to 65	16.5%	18.5% (+2%)	10% (+1%)	8.5% (+1%)
Above 65 to 70	12.5%	14% (+1.5%)	8 (+0.5%)	6% (+1%)
Above 70	12.5%	12.5%	7.5%	5%

What Are CPF Contribution and Allocation Rates?

Before we begin, let’s start from the basics.

As long as you’re an employed working adult (i.e. a salaried employee), you’ll be required to contribute to your CPF account.

CPF contribution rates refer to the percentage of wages that you and your employer have to contribute towards your CPF account.

Your CPF contributions are distributed to your Ordinary Account (OA), Special Account (SA), and MediSave Account (MA) according to the CPF allocation rates.

There are also both employer and employee contributions that will be paid to your CPF account.

These are the current contribution and allocation rates across different age groups.

	Contribution Rate (%) for monthly wages ≥ $750			Allocation Rates (%)
Age (Years)	Employer's Contribution	Employee's Contribution	Total	OA	SA	MA
≤35	17	20	37	23	6	8
>35 - 45				21	7	9
>45 - 50				19	8	10
>50 - 55				15	11.5	10.5
>55 - 60	13	13	26	12	3.5	10.5
>60 - 65	9	7.5	16.5	3.5	2.5	10.5
>65	7.5	5	12.5	1	1	10.5

As seen from the table above, CPF contribution and allocation rates would vary across different age groups.

Along with the adjustments of retirement age, CPF contribution rates will also be raised gradually over the years for older workers in tandem with the aging workforce.

This explains the upcoming changes in contribution rates for workers aged 55 and above, from 1 Jan 2022 onwards.

Employee's age (years)	Current Contribution Rate	CPF Contribution Rates from 1 Jan 2022
	Total (% of wage)	Total (% of wage)	By Employer (% of wage)	By Employee (% of wage)
55 & below	37%	37%	17%	20%
Above 55 to 60	26%	28% (+2%)	14% (+1%)	14% (+1%)
Above 60 to 65	16.5%	18.5% (+2%)	10% (+1%)	8.5% (+1%)
Above 65 to 70	12.5%	14% (+1.5%)	8 (+0.5%)	6% (+1%)
Above 70	12.5%	12.5%	7.5%	5%

Example of CPF Allocation to the Three CPF Accounts

To further illustrate how the CPF contributions will be allocated, let’s take Calmond, a 30-year-old salaried employee.

Calmond earns a gross monthly income of $5,000.

Based on his age, 20% of his income ($1,000) will be credited as CPF employee contribution.

His employer will credit an additional 17% of his income ($850) as employer contribution.

His monthly total CPF contribution would be $1,850.

This amount will be split accordingly to the three CPF accounts.

Employee's Age	Total	Allocation Rate
30 years old	37% of wage (20% + 17%)	Ordinary Account (23% of wage)	Special Account (6% of wage)	MediSave Account (8% of wage)
Amount credited monthly	$1,850	$1,150	$300	$400

Who Are These CPF Contribution and Allocation Rates Applicable To?

CPF contribution and allocation rates are applicable to you if you are a:

Singapore Citizen
Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR)(Third year onwards), or
First or Second Year SPR who has jointly applied with employers to contribute at full employer-full employee rates

CPF contribution rates are applicable for private and public sector non-pensionable employees.

These rates do not apply to you if you are a self-employed individual.

CPF Contributions for Self-Employed Persons

For a self-employed person (SEP), CPF contributions are voluntary, while Medisave contributions are compulsory.

Any self-employed persons who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents and earn an annual Net Trade Income (NTI) of more than $6,000 would need to contribute to MediSave.

The MediSave contribution rates for SEPs are as follows:

Net Trade Income (NTI)	Age as at 1 January
	Below 35 years	35 to below 45 years	45 to below 50 years	50 years and above
Above $6,000 to $12,000	4.00%	4.50%	5.00%	5.25%
Above $12,000 to $18,000	Phased in** from 4.00% to 8.00%	Phased in** from 4.50% to 9.00%	Phased in** from 5.00% to 10.00%	Phased in** from 5.25% to 10.50%
Above $18,000	8.00% (Maximum $5,760)	9.00% (Maximum $6,480)	10.00% (Maximum $7,200)	10.50% (Maximum $7,560)

**Phase in rates are calculated as such:

Net Trade Income (NTI)	Age as at 1 January
	Below 35 Years	35 to below 45 years	45 to below 50 years	50 years and above
	% of NTI	% of NTI	% of NTI	% of NTI
Above $12,000 to $18,000	[[480+0.16(NTI -12,000)] x100 /NTI	[[540+0.18(NTI-12,000)] x100 /NTI	[[600+0.20(NTI-12,000)] x100 /NTI	[[630+0.21(NTI-12,000)] x100 /NTI

CPF contributions into the other CPF accounts for self-employed persons can be done via the following methods:

Cash top-ups to all three accounts (CPF OA, SA and MA)
Transfer CPF OA to CPF SA or RA
Cash top-ups via the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme (RSTU)

CPF Contribution Cap

According to CPF, there is a cap to the CPF amount employers and employees can contribute.

There are mainly three CPF limits to take note of.

Ordinary Wage (OW) Ceiling

OW exclusively refers to the wages that employees receive in return for their employment in a month.

The OW ceiling is currently at $6,000 per month.

Additional Wage (AW) Ceiling

This is the compensation given to employees made at intervals of more than a month.

This would include your bonuses, commissions, allowances, leave pay, and other forms of compensation given at intervals of more than a month.

The AW ceiling is currently at $102,000 – total OW subject to CPF for the year.

CPF Annual Limit

This is the maximum amount of mandatory and voluntary contributions CPF members can make to their Ordinary Accounts (OA), Special Accounts (SA) and Medisave Accounts (MA) in a calendar year.

The CPF Annual limit is currently at $37,740.

These caps are applicable on a monthly basis for OW ceiling and a yearly basis for AW ceiling and CPF Annual Limit.