In this analysis, employee material welfare is measured by net income, calculated from average annual wages (plus the corresponding in-work benefits) minus the corresponding income tax and social contributions, for non-elderly single-person households without children, and then adjusted for per-capita social transfers in kind (e.g., government spending on goods and services related to health, education, and other welfare programs for households). The cost of living is also taken into account. The results are quite astonishing—in 2023, Taiwan ranks among the top five countries in employee material welfare, even surpassing the United States (see Figure 1).
Keywords: average annual wages, average annual earnings, net earnings, income tax, social contributions, price level index, individual consumption expenditure of general government, employee material welfare
§ Links:
…… Table 1. Raw data in 2023 and data sources (Last updated: Apr 8, 2025)
…… Table 2. OECD-Eurostat
…… Table 3. Taiwan and Singapore
…… The original artical in Mandarin
…… Appendix Table. Compensation of employees by industry for Taiwan in 2024
The corresponding figures for other economies in the Eurostat-OECD group, including Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Poland, are shown in Table 2. (Last updated: Jan 12, 2026)
Due to methodological differences, median wages (or earnings) cannot be reliably compared across countries outside Europe, as the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), conducted only in Europe, provides internationally comparable median wage data. Instead, average annual wages per employee in full-time-equivalent unit (hereafter referred to as average wages, or AW) are used. These are calculated from national accounts statistics by dividing total wages and salaries by the number of employees and converting the result into full-time equivalent terms. To perform this conversion, wages and salaries per employee are multiplied by the ratio of average usual weekly hours worked by full-time dependent employees in their main jobs to average usual weekly hours worked by all dependent employees in their main jobs. Full-time employment is defined as usual weekly working hours of 30 or more per week in the main job.
More precisely, employee material welfare is measured as the net income of an average-wage, non-elderly single adult without children, calculated using the OECD tax-benefit model and adjusted for social transfers in kind from general government on a per-capita basis. This value is converted to US dollars using current purchasing power parities (PPPs) for actual individual consumption (AIC). This approach presents a different perspective from that of the household-based analysis.
Figure 1 illustrates the employee material welfare level and average annual wages, with the latter converted to US dollars using current PPPs for private consumption.
Figure 2 shows net income, also converted to US dollars using current PPPs for private consumption. Data on average annual wages of Eurostat-OECD countries (except Cyprus and Malta) and the OECD tax-benefit model are sourced from the OECD. (See Table 1 and 2 for more details. Raw data and sources for Taiwan and Singapore are provided in Table 1 and 3. Average annual wages of Cyprus and Malta are calculated based on data from Eurostat.)
Figure 3 and Figure 4 demonstrate the results in 2024.
It should be noted that the original OECD data for Iceland and New Zealand refer to compensation of employees, rather than specifically to wages and salaries. Similarly, the governments of Taiwan and New Zealand report only compensation of employees in their national accounts, without providing precise figures for wages and salaries. Therefore, the data for these countries have been further estimated. In the case of Iceland, wages and salaries can be easily derived from OECD sources, as this breakdown is available in its national accounts statistics. For Taiwan and New Zealand, however, additional data is required for estimation—specifically from earnings and labor compensation surveys. (See Table 1 for more details.)
As shown in Table 1, the raw data on average wages for Singapore are not taken from national accounts statistics and cover only citizens and permanent residents. Since November 28, 2025, Table 3 presents national–accounts–based figures for Singapore. In this table, compensation of employees—minus employer Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions received by resident employees—is divided by the total number of resident employees and non-resident employed persons, using the same full-time-equivalent conversion method as in the previous figures. (See Table 3.)
Figure 1
Figure 2
For Singapore, net income is defined as gross income minus income tax and contributions to the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Country code: See the Eurostat Website.
Figure 3
Figure 4
The OECD tax-benefit model is updated for all countries in the Eurostat-OECD group. For Singapore, net income is defined as gross income minus income tax and contributions to the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Country code: See the Eurostat Website.
For Taiwan, the average wage may still be slightly underestimated, as the ratio of wages and salaries to total compensation may be understated due to the capping of social security contributions. For some countries, gaps exist between the OECD average wage figures and the recalculated figures (see Appendix Figure 2 in the article "National Accounts Statistics"). The discrepancy mainly reflects differences in employment data or full-time equivalent adjustment data.
- In Iceland, using employment data from the official labor force survey results in lower average wage figures, suggesting that relatively lower employment figures are reflected in the OECD data.
- In Latvia, using national accounts employment data also leads to lower figures.
- In South Korea, the OECD data do not appear to incorporate a full-time equivalent adjustment.
- See Appendix Table for figures including net income (Net, US$ at PPP) at the level of average annual wages (AW, recalculated), per-capita social transfers in kind (STiKs, US$ at PPP) from the government, and empoloyee material welfare (MW, Index, US=100, recalculated). (Also see Table 1 "Table 1.")
According to explanations from the OECD, average wages derived from national accounts (NA) statistics may be lower than those from earnings surveys due to several factors:
- NA data include part-time employees, whereas earnings surveys may focus on full-time employees. Average wages calculated on a full-time equivalent basis are typically lower than those based solely on full-time workers.
- NA data include low-paid positions, such as apprentices.
- NA data cover all establishments, while earnings surveys may include only those with ten or more employees.
- NA data include secondary jobs (i.e., multiple job holders).
- NA data include supervisory employees who may be excluded from some surveys.
- NA data may account for wages and salaries paid to business owners, as well as undeclared earnings not captured in surveys.
The representativeness of average wages depends on the proportion of full-time employees relative to total employees. A lower proportion reduces the relevance to the majority of workers. The Netherlands exemplifies this, having the lowest proportion of full-time employees among advanced economies. In contrast, Taiwan has one of the highest proportions.
Taiwan's high material welfare is partly attributed to its low cost of living, which is significantly influenced by government interventions—such as subsidized electricity and fuel prices as well as cheap healthcare and education services.
(For auxiliary data, see Figure 5 and Figure 6.)
Figure 5
Figure 6
The Price Level Index (PLI) is defined as the ratio of the PPP for private consumption to the exchange rate, multiplied by 100. Country code: See the Eurostat Website.
| Statistical Classification of Industries | Total bill TWD, millions | Per employee TWD, thousands | |||
| NA data | Surveys | NA data | Surveys | ||
| Total | 11,057,527 | 7,251,247 | 1,091* | 851 | |
| A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 67,183 | .. | 670 | .. |
| B | Mining and quarrying | 4,557 | 2,815 | 1,000 | 919 |
| C | Manufacturing | 3,297,516 | 2,638,217 | 995 | 920 |
| D | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 54,211 | 51,108 | 1,600 | 1378 |
| E | Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 41,474 | 26,405 | 510 | 688 |
| F | Construction | 527,999 | 357,054 | 652 | 713 |
| G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 1,579,173 | 1,285,721 | 1,280 | 747 |
| H | Transportation and storage | 366,362 | 285,501 | 993 | 959 |
| I | Accommodation and food service activities | 369,037 | 294,537 | 597 | 532 |
| J | Information and communication | 401,971 | 315,838 | 1,500 | 1153 |
| K | Financial and insurance activities | 880,318 | 616,126 | 2,050 | 1488 |
| L | Real estate activities | 124,676 | 104,764 | 1,300 | 786 |
| M | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 349,289 | 325,309 | 1,020 | 940 |
| N | Administrative and support service activities | 296,553 | 256,233 | 980 | 567 |
| O | Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 858,478 | .. | 1,620 | .. |
| P | Education | 750,240 | 78,724 | 1,230 | 490 |
| Q | Human health and social work activities | 583,653 | 499,096 | 1,070 | 952 |
| R | Arts, entertainment and recreation | 139,253 | 48,257 | 1,370 | 584 |
| S | Other service activities | 365,584 | 63,413 | 1,060 | 551 |
- Last updated: January 12, 2026
- Per-employee figures in the national accounts (NA) are calculated using employment data from the labor force survey (officially titled the Manpower Survey), an individual/household-based survey, and the earnings survey (officially titled the Employees' Earnings Survey), an establishment-based survey. Since the former covers citizens only, the employee count is adjusted to account for foreign workers based on data from the latter survey. Because the labor force survey excludes the armed forces, the number of employees in industry (O): Public administration and defence; compulsory social security is adjusted to include the number of military personnel in active service as of the end of June. The number of foreign workers in industry (A): Agriculture, forestry and fishing is included in this table (as of the end of June).
- The per-employee figure* for all industries is calculated using NA data based on the total number of employees reported in this table, which does not fully reflect the actual number of foreign workers. When foreign workers are fully included, the figure is adjusted to 1,072. (See Table 3.)
- Total compensation of employees is calculated by multiplying the per-employee figure derived from the Job Vacancy and Employment Status Survey by the number of employees reported in the earnings survey. The wage data from the Job Vacancy and Employment Status Survey are consistent with the corresponding figures in the earnings survey. However, both surveys share identical industry coverage, which is limited in scope and excludes activities classified under (A) Agriculture, forestry and fishing; (O) Public administration and defence; compulsory social security; and (P) Education, specifically institutions providing education at the primary level and above. Several other economic activities are also excluded from the surveys, as detailed below.
(G): retail street vendors
(I): food stalls and beverage stalls
(K): trusts, funds and similar financial entities, and pension funds
(Q): non-outpatient medical services within human health activities; social work activities include only childcare, elderly care, and care institutions for persons with disabilities
(R): individual creative and performance activities within creative arts, libraries and archives, and other sports service activities; limited to the commercial operations of botanical gardens, zoos, nature conservation institutions, museums, historical sites, and other similar institutions
(S): religious, professional and similar organizations, and activities of households as employers of domestic personnel
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