The Division of Economics is a major division in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. It  has its roots in the Division of Applied Economics in the Nanyang Business School that was established in 1993.

The Division is made up of  local and international faculty members. It has over 30 academic staff. All have PhD degrees from major universities. Economics staff participate regularly in major international conferences. They have served as consultants to prominent international organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank. Faculty members have also advised  government ministries in Singapore such as Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry, Manpower, Environment and Health. They have also made their expertise available to statutory boards like the Economic Development Board, Trade Development Board and the Maritime and Port Authority.

Faculty members are actively involved in research in many fields of  theoretical and applied economics. These include the economies of China and East Asia; Singapore and ASEAN; financial economics; population;  industrial relations; labour economics; the public sector;  health and the ageing population; urban economics;  environmental economics and other areas.

NTU teaching staff also regularly publish in major internationally refereed journals. Some of these journals have been the American Journal of Economics and Sociology; Journal of Agricultural Economics; China Economic Review; Economic Journal; Economic Letters; Economic Modelling; Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation; Journal of Actuarial Practice; Economics of Education Review; Environment and Planning; International Economic Review; International Economic Journal; International Journal of Forecasting; Journal of Econometrics; Journal of Economic Theory; Journal of Development Economics; Journal of Development Studies; Journal of Comparative Economic Studies; Journal of Comparative Economics; Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization; Land Economics; Open Economies Review; International Review of Law and Economics; Applied Economics; Journal of Public Economics; Journal of International Trade and Economic Development; and World Development. They are highly productive in writing and editing books. The prestigious Singapore Economic Review is based in this Division.