International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing, 2016 - Summary Tables
16 February 2018
Table 3. Components of hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, US dollars, 2016
| Hourly Compensation Costs(1) | ||||||
| Country | in US dollars | US = 100 | ||||
| 1997 (2) | 2015 | 2016 (3) | 1997 (2) | 2015 | 2016 | |
| Switzerland | 30.43 | 61.01 | 60.36 | 132 | 161 | 155 |
| Norway | 25.88 | 50.96 | 48.62 | 112 | 135 | 125 |
| Belgium | 28.95 | 47.96 | 47.26 | 126 | 127 | 121 |
| Denmark | 23.72 | 44.57 | 45.32 | 103 | 118 | 116 |
| Germany | 28.86 | 42.27 | 43.18 | 125 | 112 | 111 |
| Sweden | 25.05 | 41.64 | 41.68 | 109 | 110 | 107 |
| Austria (5) | 24.88 | 38.99 | 39.54 | 108 | 103 | 101 |
| United States | 23.04 | 37.81 | 39.03 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Finland | 22.36 | 38.44 | 38.72 | 97 | 102 | 99 |
| Australia | 19.29 | 38.59 | 38.19 | 84 | 102 | 98 |
| France | 24.87 | 37.31 | 37.72 | 108 | 99 | 97 |
| Ireland | 17.42 | 35.84 | 36.23 | 76 | 95 | 93 |
| Netherlands | 22.71 | 35.02 | 34.60 | 99 | 93 | 89 |
| Italy | 19.77 | 32.40 | 32.49 | 86 | 86 | 83 |
| Canada | 18.49 | 30.74 | 30.08 | 80 | 81 | 77 |
| United Kingdom | 19.30 | 33.01 | 28.41 | 84 | 82 | 73 |
| Singapore | 12.16 | 25.87 | 26.75 | 53 | 68 | 69 |
| Japan (4) | 22.00 | 23.60 | 26.46 | 96 | 62 | 68 |
| New Zealand | 12.04 | 23.23 | 23.67 | 52 | 61 | 61 |
| Spain | 13.96 | 23.40 | 23.44 | 61 | 62 | 60 |
| South Korea | 9.24 | 22.54 | 22.98 | 40 | 60 | 59 |
| Israel | 11.62 | 21.85 | 22.63 | 50 | 58 | 58 |
| Argentina (4) | 7.55 | 20.20 | 16.77 | 33 | 53 | 43 |
| Greece | 11.61 | 16.01 | 15.70 | 50 | 42 | 40 |
| Estonia | NA | 11.00 | 11.60 | NA | 29 | 30 |
| Slovakia | 2.84 | 11.08 | 11.57 | 12 | 29 | 30 |
| Portugal | 6.44 | 10.99 | 10.96 | 28 | 29 | 28 |
| Czech Republic | 3.25 | 10.39 | 10.71 | 14 | 27 | 27 |
| Taiwan (4) | 7.07 | 9.49 | 9.82 | 31 | 25 | 25 |
| Hungary | 3.05 | 8.21 | 8.60 | 13 | 22 | 22 |
| Poland | 3.29 | 8.52 | 8.53 | 14 | 23 | 22 |
| Brazil | 7.03 | 7.73 | 7.98 | 31 | 20 | 20 |
| Turkey | NA | 5.68 | 6.09 | NA | 15 | 16 |
| Mexico | 2.62 | 4.38 | 3.91 | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| Philippines | 1.24 | 2.15 | 2.06 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
NA means data not available.
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 and Turkey, 1997 is the first year data for all countries are available.
(3) Data are ranked on the 2016 value of Hourly Compensation, US Dollars.
(4) Except for Argentina, Japan and Taiwan, data relate to manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 4.
(5) For Austria, ISIC C Manufacturing excludes ISIC 12 Manufacture of tobacco products.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, February 2018
| Country | 1998-2016 | 2015 | 2016 | ||||||
| National currency change | Exchange rate change (2) | US dollar change (3) | National currency change | Exchange rate change (2) | US dollar change (3) | National currency change | Exchange rate change (2) | US dollar change (3) | |
| Japan (5) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.1 | -12.5 | -12.4 | 0.8 | 11.3 | 12.1 |
| Turkey | NA | -14.6 | NA | 13.5 | -19.5 | -8.6 | 19.2 | -9.9 | 7.3 |
| Estonia | NA | -0.1 | NA | 6.0 | -16.4 | -11.4 | 5.8 | -0.3 | 5.5 |
| Hungary | 7.9 | -2.1 | 5.6 | 3.9 | -16.7 | -13.5 | 5.6 | -0.8 | 4.8 |
| Slovakia | 6.5 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 2.5 | -16.4 | -14.3 | 4.8 | -0.3 | 4.5 |
| Israel | 4.2 | -0.6 | 3.6 | 3.0 | -7.9 | -5.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 3.5 |
| Taiwan (5) | 2.4 | -0.6 | 1.7 | 5.2 | -4.8 | 0.1 | 4.8 | -1.3 | 3.4 |
| Singapore | 3.8 | 0.4 | 4.2 | 4.6 | -7.8 | -3.6 | 3.9 | -0.5 | 3.4 |
| United States | 2.8 | 0.0 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 0.0 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 3.2 |
| Brazil | 7.1 | -6.0 | 0.7 | 4.8 | -29.3 | -25.9 | 8.3 | -4.7 | 3.2 |
| Czech Republic | 5.0 | 1.4 | 6.5 | 3.5 | -15.6 | -12.7 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 3.1 |
| Germany | 2.2 | -0.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | -16.4 | -14.6 | 2.4 | -0.3 | 2.2 |
| South Korea | 6.0 | -1.0 | 4.9 | 2.5 | -6.9 | -4.6 | 4.6 | -2.5 | 1.9 |
| New Zealand | 3.3 | 0.3 | 3.6 | 2.6 | -15.9 | -13.8 | 2.1 | -0.2 | 1.9 |
| Denmark | 3.6 | -0.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | -16.6 | -15.7 | 1.7 | -0.1 | 1.7 |
| Austria (6) | 2.6 | -0.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | -16.4 | -14.5 | 1.7 | -0.3 | 1.4 |
| France | 2.3 | -0.1 | 2.2 | 1.4 | -16.4 | -15.3 | 1.4 | -0.3 | 1.1 |
| Ireland | 4.3 | -0.4 | 3.9 | -1.3 | -16.4 | -17.5 | 1.4 | -0.3 | 1.1 |
| Finland | 3.1 | -0.2 | 2.9 | 2.1 | -16.4 | -14.6 | 1.0 | -0.3 | 0.7 |
| Italy | 2.8 | -0.1 | 2.6 | 2.6 | -16.4 | -14.3 | 0.5 | -0.3 | 0.3 |
| Spain | 2.9 | -0.1 | 2.8 | -0.7 | -16.4 | -17.0 | 0.5 | -0.3 | 0.2 |
| Poland | 6.2 | -1.0 | 5.1 | 3.6 | -16.3 | -13.3 | 4.7 | -4.4 | 0.1 |
| Sweden | 3.3 | -0.6 | 2.7 | 2.1 | -18.7 | -17.0 | 1.6 | -1.5 | 0.1 |
| Portugal | 3.0 | -0.2 | 2.8 | 3.6 | -16.4 | -13.4 | 0.0 | -0.3 | -0.3 |
| Australia | 3.7 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 0.6 | -16.7 | -16.1 | 0.0 | -1.0 | -1.0 |
| Switzerland | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.7 | -1.0 | -4.8 | -5.8 | 1.3 | -2.3 | -1.1 |
| Netherlands | 2.4 |
-0.1 |
2.2 | -0.5 | -16.4 | -16.9 | -0.9 | -0.3 | -1.2 |
| Belgium | 2.7 | -0.1 | 2.6 | 1.7 | -16.4 | -15.0 | -1.2 | -0.3 | -1.5 |
| Greece | 2.2 | -0.6 | 1.6 | -0.5 | -16.4 | -16.8 | -1.7 | -0.3 | -1.9 |
| Canada | 2.4 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 3.1 | -13.5 | -10.8 | 1.4 | -3.5 | -2.2 |
| Philippines | 5.3 | -2.5 | 2.7 | 4.3 | -2.4 | 1.7 | 0.1 | -4.2 | -4.1 |
| Norway | 4.3 | -0.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 | -21.9 | -19.0 | -0.6 | -4.0 | -4.6 |
| United Kingdom | 3.1 | -1.0 | 2.1 | 1.3 | -7.2 | -6.0 | 3.7 | -11.6 | -8.4 |
| Mexico | 6.8 | -4.4 | 2.1 | 4.6 | -16.1 | -12.3 | 5.1 | -15.1 | -10.7 |
| Argentina (5) | 20.2 | -13.2 | 4.3 | 30.6 | -12.5 | 14.3 | 32.7 | -37.4 | -17.0 |
NA means data not available.
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) of 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.
(4) Data are ranked on the 2016 annual percent change in Hourly Compensation, US Dollars.
(5) Except for Argentina, Japan and Taiwan, data relate to manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 4.
(6) For Austria, ISIC C Manufacturing excludes ISIC 12 Manufacture of tobacco products.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, February 2018
| Hourly Compensation Costs(1) | as a percent of total hourly compensation | ||||
| Total, In US Dollars | Social Insurance(2) | Direct Pay | |||
| Total | Directly-Paid Benefits(3) | Pay for Time Worked(4) | |||
| United States | 39.03 | 24.0 | 76.0 | 9.4 | 66.6 |
| Argentina (5) | 16.77 | 17.4 | 82.6 | 14.0 | 68.6 |
| Australia | 38.19 | 19.1 | 80.9 | 9.6 | 71.3 |
| Austria (6) | 39.54 | 26.1 | 73.9 | 21.4 | 52.5 |
| Belgium | 47.26 | 31.0 | 69.0 | 20.5 | 48.5 |
| Brazil | 7.98 | 31.4 | 68.6 | 14.4 | 54.3 |
| Canada | 30.08 | 20.2 | 79.8 | 9.9 | 69.9 |
| Czech Republic | 10.71 | 26.6 | 73.4 | 13.0 | 60.4 |
| Denmark | 45.32 | 11.6 | 88.4 | 15.8 | 72.7 |
| Estonia | 11.60 | 26.0 | 74.0 | 9.6 | 64.3 |
| Finland | 38.72 | 20.4 | 79.6 | 20.7 | 58.9 |
| France | 37.72 | 30.4 | 69.6 | 13.2 | 56.4 |
| Germany | 43.18 | 21.9 | 78.1 | 20.6 | 57.5 |
| Greece | 15.70 | 23.5 | 76.5 | 18.2 | 58.4 |
| Hungary | 8.60 | 23.9 | 76.1 | 19.2 | 56.8 |
| Ireland | 36.23 | 16.6 | 83.4 | 21.8 | 61.6 |
| Israel | 22.63 | 18.2 | 81.8 | 8.5 | 73.3 |
| Italy | 32.49 | 29.0 | 71.0 | 18.4 | 52.6 |
| Japan (5) | 26.46 | 18.1 | 81.9 | 25.9 | 56.0 |
| Mexico | 3.91 | 29.8 | 70.2 | NA | NA |
| Netherlands | 34.60 | 20.9 | 79.1 | 20.5 | 58.6 |
| New Zealand | 23.67 | 3.9 | 96.1 | 12.3 | 83.9 |
| Norway | 48.62 | 17.0 | 83.0 | NA | NA |
| Philippines | 2.06 | 7.8 | 92.2 | 17.2 | 75.0 |
| Poland | 8.53 | 18.0 | 82.0 | 23.1 | 58.9 |
| Portugal | 10.96 | 19.8 | 80.2 | 20.1 | 60.0 |
| Singapore | 26.75 | 18.3 | 81.7 | 18.1 | 63.6 |
| Slovakia | 11.57 | 27.3 | 72.7 | 19.3 | 53.4 |
| South Korea | 22.98 | 19.1 | 80.9 | NA | NA |
| Spain | 23.44 | 24.8 | 75.2 | 20.3 | 54.8 |
| Sweden | 41.68 | 30.8 | 69.2 | 10.8 | 58.4 |
| Switzerland | 60.36 | 18.4 | 81.6 | 19.0 | 62.7 |
| Taiwan (5) | 9.82 | 15.0 | 85.0 | NA | NA |
| Turkey | 6.09 | 17.2 | 82.8 | 15.1 | 67.7 |
| United Kingdom | 28.41 | 14.5 | 85.5 | 13.6 | 71.9 |
NA means data not available.
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.
(5) Except for Argentina, Japan and Taiwan, data relate to manufacturing as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Revision 4.
(6) For Austria, ISIC C Manufacturing excludes ISIC 12 Manufacture of tobacco products.
Source: The Conference Board, International Labor Comparisons program, February 2018
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