Hourly Compensation Costs In
Manufacturing
International Comparison - 1975-1999
In U.S. Dollars
Country or area 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 North America United States ...... $6.36 $9.87 $13.01 $14.91 $17.19 $17.70 $18.27 $18.66 $19.20 Canada ............. 5.96 8.67 10.95 15.95 16.10 16.64 16.47 15.60 15.60 Mexico ............. 1.47 2.21 1.59 1.58 1.51 1.54 1.78 1.84 2.12
Asia and Oceania Australia .......... 5.62 8.47 8.20 13.07 15.27 16.88 16.58 14.92 15.89 Hong Kong SAR 1 .... .76 1.51 1.73 3.20 4.82 5.14 5.42 5.47 5.44 Israel ............. 2.25 3.79 4.06 8.55 10.54 11.32 12.04 12.02 11.91 Japan .............. 3.00 5.52 6.34 12.80 23.82 21.00 19.54 18.29 20.89 Korea .............. .32 .96 1.23 3.71 7.29 8.22 7.86 5.39 6.71 New Zealand ........ 3.15 5.22 4.38 8.17 9.91 10.81 10.81 9.01 9.14 Singapore .......... .84 1.49 2.47 3.78 7.33 8.32 8.24 7.77 7.18 Sri Lanka .......... .28 .22 .28 .35 .48 .48 .46 .47 - Taiwan ............. .40 1.00 1.50 3.93 5.94 5.95 5.90 5.27 5.62
Europe Austria ............ 4.51 8.88 7.58 17.75 25.32 24.80 21.97 22.21 21.83 Belgium ............ 6.41 13.11 8.97 19.17 26.65 25.97 22.88 23.20 22.82 Denmark ............ 6.28 10.83 8.13 18.04 24.07 24.11 22.03 22.69 22.96 Finland ............ 4.61 8.24 8.16 21.03 24.10 23.41 21.32 21.66 21.10 France ............. 4.52 8.94 7.52 15.49 20.01 19.93 17.99 18.28 17.98 Germany, Former West 6.31 12.25 9.53 21.88 31.58 31.20 27.68 27.52 26.93 Germany, Unified ... - - - - 30.65 30.26 26.84 26.76 26.18 Greece ............. 1.69 3.73 3.66 6.76 9.17 9.59 9.20 8.91 - Ireland ............ 3.03 5.95 5.92 11.66 13.61 13.91 13.61 13.39 13.57 Italy .............. 4.67 8.15 7.63 17.45 16.22 17.75 17.57 17.11 16.60 Luxembourg ......... 6.50 12.03 7.81 16.74 23.35 22.55 19.02 18.74 - Netherlands ........ 6.58 12.06 8.75 18.06 24.12 23.22 20.98 21.17 20.94 Norway ............. 6.77 11.59 10.37 21.47 24.38 25.05 23.72 23.50 23.91 Portugal ........... 1.58 2.06 1.53 3.77 5.37 5.58 5.38 5.48 - Spain .............. 2.53 5.89 4.66 11.38 12.88 13.51 12.24 12.14 12.11 Sweden ............. 7.18 12.51 9.66 20.93 21.44 24.37 22.22 22.02 21.58 Switzerland ........ 6.09 11.09 9.66 20.86 29.30 28.34 24.19 24.38 23.56 United Kingdom ..... 3.37 7.56 6.27 12.70 13.67 14.09 15.47 16.43 16.56
Trade-weighted measures 2,3 All 28 foreign econ. 3.83 6.60 6.75 12.36 16.36 16.09 15.30 14.72 15.24 OECD 4 ............. 4.25 7.30 7.40 13.49 17.72 17.36 16.45 15.85 16.44 less Mexico, Korea5 4.82 8.30 8.48 15.54 20.36 19.88 18.79 18.21 18.80 Europe ............. 5.10 9.90 7.96 17.31 21.97 22.07 20.43 20.61 20.31 Asian NIEs ......... .52 1.17 1.65 3.72 6.41 6.92 6.83 5.83 6.20
Dash means data not available. 1 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. 2 Data for Germany relate to the former West Germany only. 3 For description of trade-weighted measures and economic groups, see the Technical Notes preceding these tables. 4 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 5 Mexico joined the OECD in 1994, and Korea joined in 1996.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2000.
- R. S. Kulzick - 09/10/00 -