Taipei: 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, marking the highest increase since 2020 when real average wages grew 1.42 percent over the same period, as per data compiled by the DGBAS.
According to Focus Taiwan, the data indicated that average aggregate earnings, which include regular wages and non-regular wages such as overtime pay and bonuses, adjusted for inflation, totaled NT$260,924, up 1.99 percent from a year earlier. This represents the highest growth since 2018, when growth was 2.20 percent. Tan Wen-ling, deputy director of the DGBAS Census Department, explained that in a booming economy, many employers are inclined to raise wages, allowing wage growth to outpace inflation. Furthermore, government measures to stabilize prices amid military conflicts in the Middle East have helped cap inflationary pressures, benefiting employees.
During the January-April period, the local consumer price index increased by 1.35 percent, staying 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, marking the second-highest growth in 27 years. 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, according to the DGBAS.
To account for potential distortions caused by extreme values, the DGBAS also reported that the average median monthly wage reached NT$39,348 in April, a 3.17 percent increase from a year earlier.
During the current AI boom and a buoyant stock market, the DGBAS noted that 34.8 percent of companies in a recent survey raised wages for their employees in 2025, marking the highest ratio in 25 years and a 0.9 percentage point increase from a year earlier. Strong AI development has prompted tech firms to offer higher pay, while the robust performance of the local bourse has benefited the financial and insurance sectors, paving the way for higher wages.
Citing the poll, Tan mentioned that larger companies are more inclined to raise wages. The survey showed that 31.4 percent of companies with a workforce of nine or fewer raised wages in 2025, while 85.2 percent of firms employing 500 or more reported wage increases last year. In 2025, 37.6 percent of firms in the industrial sector raised regular wages, compared to 33.8 percent in the service sector, according to the survey.