Real regular wage growth hits 1.4% from January to April

Taipei, June 12 (CNA) Real average monthly regular wages in Taiwan rose 1.4 percent year-on-year from January to April despite inflationary pressures the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Friday.

The average monthly regular wage in the local industrial and service sectors in the first four months of this year stood at NT$44,115 (US$1,395) representing year-on-year growth of 1.4 percent, the highest since 2020, when real average wages grew 1.42 percent over the same period, data compiled by the DGBAS showed.

In the same period, average aggregate earnings, comprised of regular wages and non-regular wages, such as overtime pay and bonuses, after inflationary adjustments totaled NT$260,924, up 1.99 percent from a year earlier, the highest growth since 2018, when growth was 2.20 percent, the data indicated.

Speaking with reporters, Tan Wen-ling (譚文玲), deputy director of the DGBAS Census Department, said that in a booming economy many employers raise wages for employees, which allowed wage growth to beat inflation.

In addition, the government's price stabilization measures amid military conflicts in the Middle East also capped inflationary pressure, benefiting employees, Tan added.

During the January-April period, the local consumer price index grew 1.35 percent, well below the 2 percent alert level set by the central bank.

In April, Taiwan's average monthly wage stood at NT$49,146, up 2.9 percent, the second highest growth in 27 years. After including average non-regular wages such as bonuses and overtime pay of NT$8,340, average monthly earnings rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier to NT$57,486, the DGBAS said.

With average wages easily distorted by values at the two extremes, the DGBAS also announced the average median monthly wage which hit NT$39,348 in April, up 3.17 percent from a year earlier.

Company wage hikes

During the current AI boom and the buoyant stock market, the DGBAS said 34.8 percent of companies in a recent survey raised wages for their employees in 2025, the highest ratio in 25 years and up 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

Strong AI development prompted tech firms to pay employees more, while the strong showing of the local bourse benefited the financial and insurance sectors, paving the way to higher wages.

Citing the poll, Tan said the bigger a company is the more willing it is to raise wages.

According to the survey, 31.4 percent of companies with a workforce of nine or fewer raised wages in 2025, while 85.2 percent of firms with a workforce of 500 or more reported they increased wage last year.

In 2025, 37.6 percent of firms in the industrial sector raised regular wage, higher than 33.8 percent in the service sector, the survey found.