China's 'Yeonbong King' is in IT... Real Estate on the Decline

The Industry with the Lowest Annual Salary is Accommodation and Food Services

The industry with the highest annual salary in China was found to be the Information Technology (IT) sector. The real estate sector, which has been experiencing a prolonged downturn, also saw a decline in workers' salaries.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics on the 10th, the average annual salary of employees in non-private (state-owned and foreign-invested) urban enterprises nationwide last year was 114,029 yuan (approximately 21.7 million KRW), up 6.7% from the previous year. The growth rate was 3.0 percentage points lower than in 2021, and the actual increase rate excluding factors such as inflation was 4.6%, the National Bureau of Statistics stated. The average annual salary of employees in private enterprises rose by only 3.7%, reaching 65,237 yuan.

By industry, the IT sector, which showed strong industrial growth, ranked overwhelmingly first. The average salary in the non-private sector was 220,418 yuan, up 9.4% from the previous year. In the private sector, it rose 8.1% to 123,894 yuan.

The financial sector followed, with non-private salaries at 163,486 yuan and private salaries at 110,304 yuan. Based on wage growth rates, both non-private and private sectors saw a 15.6% increase compared to the previous year, which is interpreted as an effect of workforce reductions. Wang Pingping, Director of the Population and Employment Statistics Department at the National Bureau of Statistics, explained, "The impact of restructuring, workforce reductions, and efficiency improvements in the financial industry," adding, "There were more workforce reductions in the insurance industry than in banks, securities, funds, and investment companies." Wang further noted, "Looking only at the insurance industry, the average salary growth rate reached 19.1%, but the actual salary was only 91,000 yuan," and explained, "The main reason is that the low-wage insurance agent workforce decreased by about 23% last year."

The salaries of workers in the real estate industry, which has been experiencing a prolonged market downturn, declined. The average salary in the non-private sector was 90,000 yuan, down 0.9%, and in the private sector, it was 56,435 yuan, down 3.2%. Working in a private real estate company means earning less than 900,000 KRW per month.

The industry with the lowest average wage was the accommodation and food service sector, which rose only 0.7% in the non-private sector last year to 53,995 yuan. This is attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 spread and the Chinese government's zero-COVID policy last year. Additionally, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sector rose 9.6% to 58,976 yuan.

By region, regardless of non-private or private sectors, wage levels were highest in the eastern region, where economic cities like Shanghai are concentrated, and lowest in the northeast. The eastern region recorded 133,000 yuan, the central region 90,000 yuan, the western region 101,000 yuan, and the northeast region 90,000 yuan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.