Average earnings in January top NT$110,000 on year-end bonuses

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Average earnings in Taiwan's industrial and service sectors topped NT$110,000 (US$3,449) in January after employees pocketed year-end bonuses ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday starting on Jan. 25, according to government statistics.

Data compiled by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed average earnings, which is comprised of regular wages and non-regular income such as bonuses and overtime pay, rose 38.18 percent from a year earlier to NT$113,846 in January.

The sharp increase is misleading, however, given that year-end bonuses in 2024 were largely paid in February when the Year of the Dragon began, meaning the baseline set in January 2024 was relatively low.

A more stable indicator of wage growth, average regular wages, which only counts fixed salaries and allowances, rose 2.91 percent in January from a year earlier to NT$47,458, DGBAS data showed.

Average non-regular income, including year-end bonuses, totaled NT$66,388, to push total average earnings to above NT$110,000.

After adjusting for inflation, however, average real regular wages rose only 0.23 percent to NT$43,368 in January from a year earlier, and overall average real earnings rose 34.60 percent to NT$104,035, DGBAS data showed.

Taiwan's consumer price index was up 2.66 percent from a year earlier during the month.

The DGBAS said the financial and insurance sectors reported the highest average earnings of any sector in Taiwan at about NT$299,000. Financial institutions are known for generous year-end bonus payouts.

Employees in the electronics component and computer/optoelectronics sectors had average earnings of NT$160,000 and NT$179,000, the DGBAS said.

Also in January, the median regular wage -- reflecting the midpoint of the distribution of wages -- was NT$38,142, up 2.98 percent from a year earlier, the DGBAS said.

That was well below the average wage, indicating that there were particularly high salaries at the top of the wage scale that were skewing the average regular wages higher.

Meanwhile, the DGBAS said average overtime working hours in the manufacturing sector hit their highest level for January in 10 years at 15.8 hours, while average overtime working hours in the electronics component sector hit the highest level for January in 52 years at 24.7 hours.

The DGBAS said the increase in overtime working hours in the electronics component sector largely reflected solid global demand for AI applications.