Reporter Zheng Qifang/Special report
Taiwan's economic growth rate this year is expected to be 12%. Next year, the minimum wage will increase by 4.74%. The monthly salary will officially exceed 30,000 yuan. The minimum wage has increased for 11 consecutive years. The cumulative increase in monthly wages has reached 54.4%, and the cumulative increase in hourly wages has reached 70.8%. In comparison, although domestic wage growth has gradually expanded in the past 10 years, private wage growth is still not as good as the minimum wage. Officials pointed out that according to the survey, nearly 40% of manufacturers consider "minimum wage adjustment" as a reference factor for salary increases, which shows that minimum wage increases have a certain driving effect, but the impact on different industries, manufacturers and job categories is different.
Since the Tsai administration took office in 2016, the minimum wage (basic wage) has been increased for 11 consecutive years. The monthly salary has been increased from 20,008 yuan in 2016 to 30,900 yuan in 2027, a cumulative increase of 54.4%; the hourly wage has been increased from 120 yuan to 205 yuan, a cumulative increase of 70.8%. In comparison, the regular salary of all employees in the industrial and service industries increased from 39,217 yuan in 2016 to 47,885 yuan in 2025, an increase of 22.1%; even if the salary growth in 2026 and 2027 is added, there is still a considerable gap between the private salary increase and the minimum wage increase. However, wage increases have gradually expanded in the past 10 years, with regular wages increasing by 3.09% annually in 2025, the largest increase in 26 years.
Private wage growth expands but has not yet caught up with the minimum wage increase
According to a survey by the General Accounting Office, as of the end of August this year, there were 8.632 million employees (including full-time and part-time employees of local and foreign nationalities) in the industrial and service industries. The average regular salary in August was 49,518 yuan and the median was 39,714 yuan. In other words, most office workers cannot directly benefit from the minimum wage increase because their salary is higher than the minimum wage.
Regarding the doubts that the minimum wage increase will only benefit foreign migrant workers and migrant workers, officials said that in addition to direct salary increases for workers subject to the minimum wage, some manufacturers may also increase wages based on the minimum wage to benefit other employees.
According to the "Public Employment Situation Survey" of the General Accounting Office, 34.8% of manufacturers will increase regular salaries in 2025, a 25-year high, and the number of people who will increase salaries will be 40.7%, the highest in the past 15 years. Among various industries, the finance and insurance industry had the highest ratio of wage increases at 76.7%, while the manufacturing, electricity and gas supply, mining and earth and stone extraction industries all exceeded 40%. Looking at the salary increase ratio, the electricity and gas supply industry has the highest salary increase of 91.3%, the finance and insurance industry, the mining and earth and stone extraction industry, and the manufacturing industry all have more than 50%, while the construction engineering industry and the real estate industry have less than 25%.
The minimum wage increase has a driving effect, and the proportion of manufacturers that increase wages increases
Officials from the General Accounting Office explained that there are three main factors behind this wave of salary increases. First, the government has raised the minimum wage, which has boosted the salary levels of grassroots employees. Second, the demand for emerging technologies such as AI has increased, and the revenue of related industrial chains has grown, which has led to an increase in manufacturers' willingness to raise salaries. Third, this wave of AI has not only benefited related industries, but also caused a strong rise in Taiwanese stocks, and the enthusiasm of the stock market has benefited the financial and insurance industries. In addition, salary increases are also related to the size of the manufacturer. The larger the scale of the manufacturer, the more common it is to increase regular wages, and the ratio of salary increases to employees is also higher.
As for the reference factors for manufacturers to adjust salaries, "employee personal performance" accounted for the most 49.2%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8 percentage points, followed by "minimum wage adjustment" accounting for 39.8%, a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percentage points, and "better profitability" accounted for 35.9%, ranking third, a year-on-year decrease of 0.9 percentage points. Officials explained that corporate salary increases usually do not consider a single factor, but may focus more on personal performance, company performance, etc., and may also provide high salaries to talents in specific fields, such as AI talents, to attract talents. The minimum wage increase has a certain "stimulating effect", but because the relevant survey is a "multiple choice", the degree of impact is difficult to quantify, and the impact on different industries, manufacturers and job categories is also different.
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