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Average real wages fall in 1Q24
Statistics show that the average real regular wages in Taiwan's industrial and service sectors fell for a third consecutive year in the first quarter of 2024.
The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said the average real monthly regular wages in the January-March period fell 0.09% from the same quarter a year earlier to NT$43,099 (US$1,330) per month, after a 0.40% year-on-year fall in 2023 and a 0.13% drop in 2022.
Before being adjusted for inflation, average regular wages rose 2.25% from a year earlier to NT$46,030 in the first quarter, the second highest rate of growth in six years, trailing only a 2.67% in 2022.
Chen Hui-hsin, the deputy director of the DGBAS' Census Department, said the decline in real regular wages could be completely attributed to high inflation.
Taiwan has faced inflationary pressures in recent years largely due to disruptions in global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical unease, and trade tensions between the United States and China. In the first quarter, the local consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.34% from a year earlier.
