Trend of Hourly Wages for Employees in Hong Kong

Had hourly wages in Hong Kong kept pace with inflation?

In the past decade from 2014 to 2024, the median hourly wage for all employees in Hong Kong had seen steady growth, climbing from $60.0 to $82.9, representing a remarkable cumulative rise of 38.1%, equivalent to an average annual increase of 3.3%.

The cumulative increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the same period stood at 21.4% (at an average annual increase of 2.0%). This showed that the median hourly wage had recorded growth in real terms, i.e. it had outpaced inflation!

Analysed by industry

As of 2024, the industry section with the highest median hourly wages was "Education and public administration (excluding the Government)", followed by "Financing and insurance", "Electricity and gas supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities", and "Construction". The median hourly wages of these four industry sections ranged from $110.7 to $146.2. The ranking had remained relatively stable over the past 10 years.

On the other hand, the four industry sections with relatively lower median hourly wages were "Estate management, security and cleaning services", "Miscellaneous activities", "Retail trade", and "Food and beverage services". The median hourly wages in 2024 were between $53.0 and $60.0.

As regards the trends, employees in various industries had all recorded increases in median hourly wage from 2014 to 2024. The highest increase was recorded by the "Food and beverage services" industry, with an average annual growth rate of 4.2%, while the "Education and public administration (excluding the Government)" industry recorded the lowest increase, at 2.5%. However, owing to the impact of the pandemic and the recent business performance, the increase in the median hourly wage for employees in the "Food and beverage services" industry over the past 10 years had been more concentrated in the earlier years.

Analysed by sex and age

In general, the median hourly wages for males were higher than that for females, with the differences ranging from 23.1% to 27.5% during the years between 2014 and 2024. This might partly be due to the differences in the occupations and industries that male and female employees were engaging in, as well as variations in educational levels and working experience.

In terms of age group, employees aged 35 - 44 had the highest median hourly wage in 2024, reaching $97.2, followed by those aged 25 - 34 ($86.7) and those aged 45 - 54 ($83.9). The elder age group of 55 and above had a median hourly wage of $66.7, while the young age group of 15 - 24, had a median of $62.8. These differences might be attributed to varying levels of education and working experience among different age groups.

The average annual growth rates for different age groups over the past decade ranged from 2.9% to 3.8%, with the largest and smallest increases recorded for employees aged 15 - 24 (cumulative growth of 44.6%) and for employees aged 55 and over (cumulative growth of 33.3%) respectively.

Analysed by educational attainment

As expected, higher levels of education generally corresponded to higher wage levels. For employees with post-secondary educational attainment, the median hourly wage increased from $97.7 in 2014 to $126.1 in 2024, representing a growth of 29.1%, or an average annual growth rate of 2.6%. Employees with an educational level of primary and below experienced an even more significant wage increase, with the median hourly wage rising from $39.4 to $56.8 during the same period, marking a growth of 44.2% or an average annual growth rate of 3.7%. This might be related to the positive effects brought about by the implementation of the Statutory Minimum Wage since 2011.

For more details of the wage statistics compiled from the Annual Earnings and Hours Survey, please visit the subject webpage on "Wages and Labour Earnings".

CHONG Wing-ling, Daniel
Statistician
25 July 2025