Wages and Payroll Rise in September 2025, Average Wage Increases 3.3% Year-on-Year

Wage and payroll statistics for September 2025

Overall Wage and Payroll Statistics

According to the figures released today (December 29) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed, as measured by the wage index, increased by 3.3% in nominal terms in September 2025 over a year earlier.

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), Photo source: reference image

About 61% of the companies reported increase in average wage rates in September 2025 compared with a year ago. A total of 34% of the companies recorded decrease in average wage rates over the same period. The remaining 5% reported virtually no change in average wage rates.

After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index (A), the overall average wage rate for all the selected industry sections surveyed increased by 1.8% in real terms in September 2025 over a year earlier.

As for payroll, the index of payroll per person engaged for all the industry sections surveyed increased by 2.8% in nominal terms in the third quarter of 2025 over a year earlier.

After discounting the changes in consumer prices as measured by the Composite Consumer Price Index, the average payroll per person engaged increased by 1.7% in real terms in the third quarter of 2025 compared with a year earlier.

The wage rate includes basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses. Payroll includes elements covered by wage rate as well as other irregular payments to workers such as discretionary bonuses and overtime allowances. The payroll statistics therefore tend to show relatively larger quarter-to-quarter changes, affected by the number of hours actually worked and the timing of payment of bonuses and back-pay.

Sectoral Changes

For the nominal wage indices, year-on-year increases were recorded in all selected industry sections in September 2025, ranging from 2.1% to 3.9%.

For the real wage indices, year-on-year increases were also recorded in all selected industry sections in September 2025, ranging from 0.6% to 2.4%.

The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real wage indices for the selected industry sections from September 2024 to September 2025 are shown in Table 1.

As for the nominal indices of payroll per person engaged, year-on-year increases ranging from 1.8% to 3.8% were recorded in all selected industry sections surveyed in the third quarter of 2025, except the transportation, storage, postal and courier services section where a year-on-year decrease of 0.5% was recorded.

For the real payroll indices, year-on-year increases ranging from 0.7% to 2.7% were recorded in all selected industry sections surveyed in the third quarter of 2025, except the transportation, storage, postal and courier services section where a year-on-year decrease of 1.5% was recorded.

The year-on-year changes in the nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged for selected industry sections from the third quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025 are shown in Table 2. The quarterly changes in the seasonally adjusted nominal and real indices of payroll per person engaged in the same period are shown in Table 3.

Commentary

A Government spokesman said that wages and labour earnings continued to grow in both nominal and real terms in the third quarter of 2025 over a year earlier. Average wage rate and payroll per person engaged of most selected industries recorded increases of varying degrees.

Looking ahead, the solid expansion of the Hong Kong economy and the improving consumer confidence should render support to labour demand, which will be conducive to growth in wages and labour earnings.

Other Information

Both wage indices and payroll indices are compiled quarterly based on the results of the Labour Earnings Survey (LES) conducted by C&SD. Wage index only covers employees up to the supervisory level (i.e. not including managerial and professional employees), whereas payroll index covers employees at all levels and proprietors actively engaged in the work of the establishment.

Apart from the differences in employee coverage, wage statistics are conceptually different from the payroll statistics. Firstly, wage rate for an employee refers to the sum earned for his normal hours of work. It covers basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses, but excludes earnings from overtime work and discretionary bonuses, which are however included in payroll per person engaged. Secondly, the payroll index of an industry is an indicator of the simple average payroll received per person engaged in the industry. Its movement is therefore affected by changes in wage rates, number of hours of work and occupational composition in the industry. In contrast, the wage index of an industry is devised to reflect the pure changes in wage rate, with the occupational composition between two successive statistical periods being kept unchanged. In other words, the wage index reflects the change in the price of labour. Because of these conceptual and enumeration differences between payroll and wage statistics, the movements in payroll indices and in wage indices do not necessarily match closely with each other.

It should also be noted that different consumer price indices are used for compiling the real indices of wage and payroll to take into account the differences in their respective occupation coverage. Specifically, the Composite Consumer Price Index, being an indicator of overall consumer prices, is taken as the price deflator for payroll of workers at all levels of the occupational hierarchy. The Consumer Price Index (A), being an indicator of consumer prices for the relatively low expenditure group, is taken as the price deflator for wages in respect of employees engaged in occupations up to the supervisory level.

Detailed breakdowns of the payroll and wage statistics are published in the "Quarterly Report of Wage and Payroll Statistics, September 2025". Users can browse and download the publication at the website of C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1050009&scode=210).

For enquiries on wage and payroll statistics, please contact the Wages and Labour Costs Statistics Section (1) of C&SD (Tel: 2887 5550 or email: wage@censtatd.gov.hk).

Source: AI-found images

DH announces latest situation of Legionnaires' disease cases

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (December 29) reported the latest number of Legionnaires' disease (LD) cases, and reminded the public of the importance of using and maintaining properly designed man-made water systems, adding that susceptible groups should strictly observe relevant precautions.

From December 21 to 27, the CHP recorded three community-acquired and one imported LD cases. The details of the cases are as follows:

• A 67-year-old male patient with underlying illnesses, living in Central and Western District, classified as a community-acquired case;

• A 72-year-old female patient with underlying illnesses, living in North District, classified as a community-acquired case;

• A 77-year-old male patient with underlying illnesses, living in Kwun Tong District, classified as a community-acquired case; and

• A 46-year-old male patient with good past health, who travelled to Spain, Italy, France and the United States during the incubation period, classified as an imported case.

​The CHP is conducting epidemiological investigations to identify potential sources of infection and high-risk exposure. Initial investigations revealed that these are sporadic cases. No epidemiological linkages have been established between the threecommunity-acquired cases and other confirmed cases previously recorded in Hong Kong.

As of December 27, 165 LD cases had been recorded this year. In 2024 and 2023, there were 135 and 121 LD cases respectively.

Men, people aged over 50, smokers, alcoholics and persons with weakened immunity are more susceptible to LD. Some situations may also increase the risk of infection, including poor maintenance of water systems; living in areas with old water systems, cooling towers or fountains; using electric water heaters, whirlpool spas or hot water spring spas; and recent stays in hotels or ships.

Legionellae are found in various environmental settings and grow well in warm water (20 to 45 degrees Celsius). They can be found in aqueous environments such as water tanks, hot and cold water systems, cooling towers, whirlpool spas, water fountains, humidifiers and home respiratory devices that support breathing. People may become infected when they breathe in contaminated droplets (aerosols) and mist generated by artificial water systems, or when handling garden soil, compost and potting mixes.

Immunocompromised persons should:

• Use sterile or boiled water for drinking, tooth brushing and mouth rinsing;

• Avoid using humidifiers, or other mist- or aerosol-generating devices; and

• If using humidifiers, or other mist- or aerosol-generating devices, fill the water tank with only sterile or cooled freshly boiled water, and not water directly from the tap. Also, clean and maintain humidifiers/devices regularly according to manufacturers' instructions. Never leave stagnant water in a humidifier/device. Empty the water tank, wipe all surfaces dry, and change the water daily.

​

​The public should observe the health advice below:

• Observe personal hygiene;

• Do not smoke and avoid alcohol consumption;

• Strainers in water taps and shower heads should be inspected, cleaned, descaled and disinfected regularly or at a frequency recommended by the manufacturer;

• If a fresh-water plumbing system is properly maintained, it is not necessary to install domestic water filters. Use of water filters is not encouraged as clogging occurs easily, which can promote growth of micro-organisms. In case water filters are used, the pore size should be 0.2 micrometres (µm) or less and the filter needs to be changed periodically according to the manufacturer's recommendations;

• Drain and clean water tanks of buildings at least quarterly;

• Drain or purge for at least one minute infrequently used water outlets (e.g. water taps, shower heads and hot water outlets) and stagnant points of the pipework weekly or before use;

• Seek and follow doctors' professional advice regarding the use and maintenance of home respiratory devices and use only sterile water (not distilled or tap water) to clean and fill the reservoir. Clean and maintain the device regularly according to the manufacturer's instructions. After cleaning/disinfection, rinse the device with sterile water, cooled freshly boiled water or water filtered with 0.2 µm filters. Never leave stagnant water in the device. Empty the water tank, keep all surfaces dry, and change the water daily; and

• When handling garden soil, compost and potting mixes:

• Wear gloves and a face mask;

• Water gardens and compost gently using low pressure;

• Open composted potting mixes slowly and make sure the opening is directed away from the face;

• Wet the soil to reduce dust when potting plants; and

• Avoid working in poorly ventilated places such as enclosed greenhouses.

​The public may visit the CHP's LD page, the Code of Practice for Prevention of LD and the Housekeeping Guidelines for Cold and Hot Water Systems for Building Management of the Prevention of LD Committee, and the CHP's risk-based strategy for prevention and control of LD.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Photo source: reference image