Average year-end bonuses rise to 1.72 months of wages in 2025: DGBAS

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) Average year-end bonuses in the local industrial and services sectors rose to 1.72 months of salaries in 2025, with the financial and insurance sector remaining the most generous employer in terms of bonuses, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.

Data compiled by the DGBAS showed that average year-end bonuses this year totaled NT$81,368 (US$2,503) or 1.72 months of wages on average, topping 1.69 months a year earlier. In Taiwan, many employers issue year-end bonuses ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which started on Jan. 25 and end on Feb. 2 this year.

The data indicated the financial and insurance sector continued to be the top employer for year-end bonuses with 3.74 months of salaries this year, up from 3.66 months a year earlier. While the DGBAS did not give the reason behind the growth of the financial and insurance sector many in the industry are believed to have enjoyed stable profit growth.

The manufacturing sector came second after giving an average of 2.17 months of wages as year-end bonuses, up from 2.11 months in 2024, ahead of the transportation and warehousing sector, which gave average year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.97 months of salaries, up from 1.75 months a year earlier, the DGBAS said.

Speaking with reporters, Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the DGBAS's Census Department, said on the back of strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications, employers in the computer and optoelectronics industry and electronic components industries gave year-end bonuses which reached 3.46 months and 2.92 months of wages, respectively, on average this year.

Tan said with a strong showing in exports boosting demand for cargo spaces and freight rates, the shipping industry under the transportation and warehousing sector gave an average of 5.69 months of salaries as year-end bonuses this year, while the airline business benefiting from a booming tourism market in the post COVID-19 era, reported 3.92 months of wages.

According to the DGBAS, both the industrial and service sectors contributed to an increase in year-end bonuses this year.

In February, average regular wages totaled NT$47,296, up 3.02 percent from a year earlier, with average earnings, which are comprised of regular wages and non-regular wages such as bonuses and overtime pay, at NT$58,182, plunging 28.74 percent from a year earlier and the median wage at NT$37,986, rising 2.89 percent.

The year-on-year tumble in non-regular wages came as the Lunar New Year holiday fell largely in January this year, while the holiday fell in February last year.

Despite concerns over uncertainties created by the Trump administration's tariff threats, the DGBAS said the manufacturing sector still reported a ninth consecutive month of growth in overtime working hours in February, which hit 16.1 hours on average on solid global demand for AI devices, Tan said.

The number of average overtime working hours in the electronic components industry, which is highly correlated to AI development, hit the second highest in its history in February with 26.9 hours, trailing only the 27.1 hours seen in October in 2024, Tan added.

In February, the average overtime working hours in the industrial and service sectors hit 8.4 hours, up 0.5 from a year earlier, according to the DGBAS.