The Taipei Times, carried by the Liberty Times, cited figures released October 15 by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showing real monthly total wages at an 11-year high for January-August. Real growth in regular wages was in the 1% range.
The Taipei Times reported that DGBAS data released on October 15 showed inflation-adjusted monthly total wages, including bonuses and overtime, rose 2.66% year on year in January-August, an 11-year high. The report cited strong exports, higher earnings, moderate inflation and government price-stabilization efforts.
광고 문의 · 300×250DGBAS Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲) attributed the wage gains to export growth, according to the report.
The August and January-August figures
In August the average regular monthly wage rose 3.28% year on year to NT$52,523, total monthly wages rose 6.64% to NT$69,520, and the median regular monthly wage rose 3.46% to NT$41,353. For January-August, the median regular wage rose 3.06% to NT$39,383 and the average regular wage rose 2.94% to NT$49,110.
Adjusted for prices, real growth in January-August was 1.2% for the median regular wage, 1.08% for the average regular wage and 2.66% for total wages. The 11-year-high description applies to total wages; regular pay alone grew by a smaller margin.
The median regular wage sits well below the average, which the report read as suggesting that typical workers earn considerably less than the overall average.
Sector gaps and working hours
By industry, the average regular monthly wage in January-August rose fastest in finance and insurance, up 5.85% to NT$75,313, followed by wholesale and retail at 3.52% to NT$50,414 and manufacturing at 3.47% to NT$51,661. Accommodation and food services rose only 0.4% to NT$38,871, the weakest.
Average working hours in August were 172.9, up 0.5 hours from a year earlier, and average overtime was 8.9 hours, up 0.1. DGBAS linked this to strong demand for AI hardware. Experience may differ widely by sector, so later releases bear watching.