The Labor Ministry announced on Friday, September 11, that an 11th consecutive increase in minimum wage is anticipated, with the monthly salary expected to exceed NT$30,000 (over US$948). It stated that the Minimum Wage Deliberation Committee will convene on the morning of September 24 to finalize the numbers.

According to the Minimum Wage Act, the Labor Ministry is required to convene the Minimum Wage Deliberation Committee in the third quarter of each year. Based on past committee adjustments, Taiwan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) and economic growth rate are the main reference indicators of whether the minimum wage will see change. According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the year-on-year CPI increase in August was 2.04%, prompting a revision of its economic growth rate estimate upwards to 11.05% for this year.

Taken together, these imply that the cost of living is increasing faster than originally anticipated, likely prompting another minimum wage increase.

The current minimum wage is NT$29,500 (about US$930) per month and NT$196 (US$6) per hour. It is widely expected that this year's adjustment will be above 5%.