China's urban employees see steady average salary growth in 2022

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The average salary of China's urban employees saw steady growth in 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday.

The average salary in the non-private sector reached 114,029 yuan (about 16,465 U.S. dollars), an increase of 7,192 yuan from 2021, or 6.7 percent year on year.

The real growth of the average salary for urban employees in the non-private sector, adjusted for inflation, rose by 4.6 percent year on year.

In the private sector, the annual average salary stood at 65,237 yuan, up 1.7 percent year on year after price factors were deducted, the data showed.

"The average salary of employees in 18 of the 19 surveyed sectors maintained growth last year," according to NBS official Wang Pingping.

Mainly due to rising international energy prices, the average salary of employees in the mining industry increased by 12 percent in the non-private sector and 9.3 percent in the private sector in 2022.

Robust demand for online working, learning, socialising and shopping due to the COVID-19 pandemic, helped drive salary increases in related information industries.

In 2022, non-private urban employees engaged in the information transmission, software and information technology services sectors saw average salary growth of 9.4 percent, and private urban employees in these sectors saw growth of 8.1 percent.

Going against the upward trend, people employed in the real estate industry saw their average salary decrease in 2022, and some in contact-intensive industries witnessed slower increases in their salaries.

The pay gap between different industries and regions was "relatively evident," Wang said.

The salary level was highest in the country's eastern regions and lowest in northeastern regions, regardless of sector type, Wang said.

In the non-private sector, the average salary was 133,000 yuan in eastern China, 90,000 yuan in central China, 101,000 yuan in western China and 90,000 in northeastern China, representing respective rises of 7.1 percent, 5.8 percent, 6.1 percent and 7.6 percent.

In the private sector, the average salary was 73,000 yuan in eastern China, 53,000 yuan in central China, 56,000 yuan in western China and 50,000 yuan in northeastern China, the NBS data showed.