Taipei: Average year-end bonuses in the local industrial and services sectors rose to 1.72 months of salaries in 2025, with the financial and insurance sector remaining the most generous employer in terms of bonuses, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Monday.
According to Focus Taiwan, data compiled by the DGBAS showed that average year-end bonuses this year totaled NT$81,368 (US$2,503) or 1.72 months of wages on average, surpassing the 1.69 months recorded a year earlier. In Taiwan, many employers issue year-end bonuses before the Lunar New Year holiday, which this year began on January 25 and concluded on February 2.
The data indicated that the financial and insurance sector maintained its position as the top employer for year-end bonuses with 3.74 months of salaries this year, an increase from 3.66 months a year earlier. While the DGBAS did not specify the reasons behind the growth in this sector, it is believed that stable profit growth contributed to the increase.
The manufacturing sector followed, offering an average of 2.17 months of wages as year-end bonuses, up from 2.11 months in 2024, ahead of the transportation and warehousing sector, which provided average year-end bonuses equivalent to 1.97 months of salaries, up from 1.75 months a year earlier, the DGBAS reported.
Speaking with reporters, Tan Wen-ling, deputy director of the DGBAS's Census Department, highlighted that strong global demand for artificial intelligence applications led to significant bonuses in the computer and optoelectronics industry and electronic components industries, reaching 3.46 months and 2.92 months of wages, respectively.
Tan noted that the shipping industry, boosted by strong export demand and increased freight rates, awarded an average of 5.69 months of salaries as year-end bonuses this year. Meanwhile, the airline business, benefiting from a thriving tourism market post-COVID-19, reported 3.92 months of wages.
According to the DGBAS, both the industrial and service sectors contributed to the rise in year-end bonuses this year.
In February, average regular wages totaled NT$47,296, marking a 3.02 percent increase from the previous year. Average earnings, which include regular wages and non-regular wages such as bonuses and overtime pay, were NT$58,182, reflecting a 28.74 percent decrease from a year ago, while the median wage rose to NT$37,986, a 2.89 percent increase.
The year-on-year decrease in non-regular wages was attributed to the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, which fell largely in January this year, unlike in February last year.
Despite uncertainties caused by tariff threats from the Trump administration, the DGBAS reported that the manufacturing sector experienced a ninth consecutive month of growth in overtime working hours in February, reaching 16.1 hours on average due to solid global demand for AI devices, Tan stated.
The average overtime working hours in the electronic components industry, closely linked to AI development, reached 26.9 hours in February, the second highest in its history, following only the 27.1 hours recorded in October 2024, Tan added.
In February, the average overtime working hours in the industrial and service sectors stood at 8.4 hours, up by 0.5 hours from the previous year, according to the DGBAS.