International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing, Summary Tables
Table 1. Hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, in US dollars and as a percent of costs in the United States (US =100)
Table 2. Average annual percent change in hourly compensation costs in manufacturing and exchange rates
Table 3. Components of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, US dollars, 2013
Table 4. Manufacturing hourly compensation costs in China and India, in US dollars and as a percent of costs in the United States (US =100)
Hourly Compensation Costs(1)
| in US dollars | US = 100 | |||
| 1997(2) | 2013 | 1997(2) | 2013 | |
| Norway | 25.88 | 65.86 | 112 | 181 |
| Switzerland | 30.43 | 63.23 | 132 | 174 |
| Belgium | 28.95 | 54.88 | 126 | 151 |
| Sweden | 25.04 | 51.10 | 109 | 141 |
| Denmark | 23.72 | 51.07 | 103 | 141 |
| Germany | 29.18 | 48.98 | 127 | 135 |
| Australia | 18.89 | 47.09 | 82 | 130 |
| Finland | 22.36 | 44.57 | 97 | 123 |
| Austria | 24.91 | 44.37 | 108 | 122 |
| France | 24.87 | 42.85 | 108 | 118 |
| Netherlands | 22.46 | 42.26 | 98 | 116 |
| Ireland | 17.42 | 41.98 | 76 | 116 |
| Italy | 19.77 | 36.92 | 86 | 102 |
| United States | 23.04 | 36.34 | 100 | 100 |
| Canada | 18.49 | 36.33 | 80 | 100 |
| United Kingdom | 19.30 | 31.00 | 84 | 85 |
| Japan | 22.00 | 29.13 | 96 | 80 |
| Spain | 13.96 | 28.09 | 61 | 77 |
| New Zealand | 12.04 | 25.85 | 52 | 71 |
| Singapore | 12.16 | 23.95 | 53 | 66 |
| Israel | 11.62 | 22.25 | 50 | 61 |
| South Korea | 9.24 | 21.96 | 40 | 60 |
| Argentina | 7.55 | 19.97 | 33 | 55 |
| Greece | 11.61 | 18.96 | 50 | 52 |
| Portugal | 6.44 | 12.90 | 28 | 35 |
| Slovakia | 2.84 | 12.31 | 12 | 34 |
| Czech Republic | 3.25 | 12.17 | 14 | 33 |
| Estonia | NA | 11.66 | NA | 32 |
| Brazil | 7.03 | 10.69 | 31 | 29 |
| Hungary | 3.05 | 9.44 | 13 | 26 |
| Taiwan | 7.07 | 9.37 | 31 | 26 |
| Poland | 3.29 | 9.25 | 14 | 25 |
| Mexico | 3.47 | 6.82 | 15 | 19 |
| Philippines | 1.24 | 2.12 | 5 | 6 |
For complete definitions and country information, see Technical Notes and Country Notes.
(1) Compensation costs include direct pay, social insurance expenditures, and labor-related taxes.
(2) With the exception of Estonia, 1997 is the first year data for all countries are available.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, December 2014
1997-2013 2012-2013
| National currency change | Exchange rate change (2) | US dollar change (3) | National currency change | Exchange rate change (2) | US dollar change (3) | |
| Estonia | NA | 1.0 | NA | 7.6 | 3.3 | 11.2 |
| Israel | 4.4 | -0.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 6.8 | 10.5 |
| Slovakia | 6.9 | 2.5 | 9.6 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 7.7 |
| Mexico | 7.5 | -2.9 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 7.5 |
| South Korea | 6.5 | -0.9 | 5.6 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 7.4 |
| Hungary | 8.5 | -1.1 | 7.3 | 6.7 | 0.6 | 7.4 |
| Netherlands | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 7.0 |
| Germany | 2.2 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 6.7 |
| Poland | 6.4 | 0.2 | 6.7 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 6.7 |
| Italy | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 6.4 |
| Finland | 3.5 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 6.1 |
| Sweden | 3.5 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 6.1 |
| Austria | 2.6 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 5.9 |
| France | 2.4 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 5.4 |
| Argentina | 18.2 | -10.1 | 6.3 | 26.7 | -16.9 | 5.3 |
| Belgium | 3.0 | 1.0 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 5.2 |
| Spain | 3.5 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 4.6 |
| Norway | 4.8 | 1.2 | 6.0 | 5.6 | -1.0 | 4.5 |
| Portugal | 3.5 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 |
| New Zealand | 3.5 | 1.4 | 4.9 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 3.8 |
| Denmark | 3.9 | 1.0 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
| Switzerland | 1.8 | 2.8 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 3.2 |
| Ireland | 5.0 | 0.7 | 5.7 | -0.3 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
| Czech Republic | 5.4 | 3.1 | 8.6 | 2.4 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| Philippines | 5.8 | -2.3 | 3.4 | 2.7 | -0.5 | 2.1 |
| United States | 2.9 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| United Kingdom | 3.3 | -0.3 | 3.0 | 1.5 | -1.0 | 0.4 |
| Taiwan | 2.0 | -0.2 | 1.8 | 0.4 | -0.5 | -0.2 |
| Canada | 2.4 | 1.9 | 4.3 | 2.3 | -3.0 | -0.7 |
| Singapore | 3.2 | 1.1 | 4.3 | -0.7 | -0.1 | -0.8 |
| Australia | 4.2 | 1.7 | 5.9 | 5.8 | -6.8 | -1.3 |
| Brazil | 7.2 | -4.2 | 2.7 | 8.9 | -9.5 | -1.4 |
| Greece | 2.7 | 0.4 | 3.1 | -5.4 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| Japan | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.8 | -18.2 | -17.6 |
For complete definitions and country information, see Technical Notes and Country Notes.
(1) Compensation costs include direct pay, social insurance expenditures, and labor-related taxes.
(2) Exchange rates are expressed as US dollars per foreign currency unit. A positive (negative) change signifies an appreciation (depreciation) in the foreign currency relative to the US dollar.
(3) U.S. dollar changes are approximately equal to national currency changes plus exchange rate changes for each country.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, December 2014
Hourly Compensation Costs(1)
| Total | Social Insurance(2) | Direct Pay | |||
| Total | Directly-Paid Benefits(3) | Pay for Time Worked(4) | |||
| United States | 36.34 | 8.69 | 27.66 | 3.31 | 24.35 |
| Argentina | 19.97 | 3.48 | 16.49 | 2.79 | 13.69 |
| Australia | 47.09 | 9.37 | 37.72 | 4.49 | 33.24 |
| Austria | 44.37 | 11.55 | 32.81 | 9.51 | 23.30 |
| Belgium | 54.88 | 17.66 | 37.22 | 11.08 | 26.14 |
| Brazil | 10.69 | 3.41 | 7.29 | 1.53 | 5.76 |
| Canada | 36.33 | 7.26 | 29.06 | 3.59 | 25.47 |
| Czech Republic | 12.17 | 3.23 | 8.93 | 1.58 | 7.35 |
| Denmark | 51.07 | 5.58 | 45.48 | 7.63 | 37.85 |
| Estonia | 11.66 | 3.04 | 8.62 | 1.12 | 7.50 |
| Finland | 44.57 | 9.09 | 35.48 | 9.22 | 26.26 |
| France | 42.85 | 13.02 | 29.83 | 5.67 | 24.16 |
| Germany | 48.98 | 10.61 | 38.37 | 10.48 | 27.89 |
| Greece | 18.96 | 4.38 | 14.58 | 3.55 | 11.03 |
| Hungary | 9.44 | 2.26 | 7.18 | 1.82 | 5.37 |
| Ireland | 41.98 | 7.00 | 34.98 | 8.66 | 26.32 |
| Israel | 22.25 | 3.63 | 18.62 | 1.82 | 16.79 |
| Italy | 36.92 | 10.70 | 26.23 | 6.80 | 19.42 |
| Japan | 29.13 | 5.27 | 23.86 | 7.34 | 16.51 |
| Mexico | 6.82 | 2.07 | 4.75 | NA | NA |
| Netherlands | 42.26 | 9.38 | 32.88 | 8.50 | 24.38 |
| New Zealand | 25.85 | 1.03 | 24.82 | 3.16 | 21.65 |
| Norway | 65.86 | 11.18 | 54.68 | NA | NA |
| Philippines | 2.12 | 0.17 | 1.96 | 0.37 | 1.58 |
| Poland | 9.25 | 1.54 | 7.71 | 2.17 | 5.54 |
| Portugal | 12.90 | 2.56 | 10.34 | 2.60 | 7.74 |
| Singapore | 23.95 | 4.00 | 19.95 | 4.23 | 15.73 |
| Slovakia | 12.31 | 3.34 | 8.97 | 2.40 | 6.57 |
| South Korea | 21.96 | 4.30 | 17.67 | NA | NA |
| Spain | 28.09 | 7.25 | 20.84 | 5.64 | 15.20 |
| Sweden | 51.10 | 15.54 | 35.56 | 5.53 | 30.03 |
| Switzerland | 63.23 | 11.63 | 51.60 | 11.98 | 39.62 |
| Taiwan | 9.37 | 1.37 | 8.01 | NA | NA |
| United Kingdom | 31.00 | 4.51 | 26.49 | 4.20 | 22.28 |
For complete definitions and country information, see Technical Notes and Country Notes.
(1) Compensation costs include direct pay, social insurance expenditures, and labor-related taxes.
(2) Employer social insurance expenditures are legally required, private, and contractual social benefit costs, and labor-related taxes minus subsidies.
(3) Directly-paid benefits are primarily pay for leave time, irregular bonuses, and pay in kind.
(4) Pay for time worked is primarily base wages and salaries, overtime pay, regular bonuses and premiums (paid each pay period), and cost of living adjustments.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, December 2014
Hourly Compensation Costs(1)
| US Dollars | US = 100 | |||
| China | India | China | India | |
| 1996 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1997 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1998 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 1999 | NA | 0.68 | NA | 2.8 |
| 2000 | NA | 0.70 | NA | 2.8 |
| 2001 | NA | 0.71 | NA | 2.7 |
| 2002 | 0.60 | 0.73 | 2.2 | 2.7 |
| 2003 | 0.68 | 0.81 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| 2004 | 0.74 | 0.85 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| 2005 | 0.83 | 0.91 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
| 2006 | 0.95 | 0.95 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| 2007 | 1.21 | 1.17 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| 2008 | 1.59 | 1.26 | 4.9 | 3.8 |
| 2009 | 1.74 | 1.23 | 5.1 | 3.6 |
| 2010 | 1.98 | 1.46 | 5.7 | 4.2 |
| 2011 | 2.62 | 1.59 | 7.4 | 4.5 |
| 2012 | 3.07 | NA | 8.6 | NA |
For country information and a description of data limitations associated with estimates for China and India, see the Country Notes.
(1) Due to various data gaps and methodological issues, compensation costs for China and India are not directly comparable to each other or with the data for other countries found in this report, and therefore are presented separately.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, December 2014
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