1. Average Monthly Wage Rates of Selected Occupations

a. The overall average monthly wage rate of time-rated workers on full-time basis across 193 monitored occupations in 72 selected industries was  PhP 18,423 in 2022. This indicates an  11.7 percent increase from the average monthly wage rate of these workers in 2020 at PhP 16,486 and a 1.7 percent increment from their average monthly wage rate in 2018 at PhP 18,108. (Figure 1) 

 

2. Top Ten Highest-Paying Occupations from Selected Occupations

a. Among the different time-rated workers on full-time basis from the monitored occupations and industries, aircraft pilots and related associate professionals in the Air Transport industry received the highest average monthly wage rate of PhP 135,363 in 2022. (Figure 2)

b. Software developers working in Information Service Activities ranked second with an average wage rate of PhP 70,595 per month. 

c. Four out of the 10 highest paid occupations were engaged in Insurance, Reinsurance and Pension Funding except Compulsory Social Security. These occupations were mathematicians and actuaries at PhP 69,654, applications programmers at PhP 58,643, statisticians at PhP 51,607, and accountants (including auditors) at PhP 48,982.

d. Health workers, specifically specialist medical practitioners and medical doctor/generalist medical practitioners with corresponding salaries of PhP 57,476 and PhP 51,251, both working in Human Health Activities except Public Health Activities, were also included in the top 10.

e. Other highly paid occupations include production supervisors and general foremen employed in Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply, earning an average of PhP 63,017 per month, and geologists in Mining of Coal and Lignite; Extraction of Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Other Mining and Quarrying being paid an average of PhP 49,059 per month. (Figure 2)  

3. Average Monthly Wage Rates of Benchmark Occupations 

Benchmark occupations refer to occupations that are widespread or common to all establishments and are usually at or near the bottom of the wage scale or mostly low-paid occupations. The 2022 OWS specifically collects and monitors data on the employment and wage rates of two (2) benchmark occupations namely: (1) Accounting and Bookkeeping Clerks; and (2) Elementary Occupations (Unskilled Workers) in industries covered by the survey.

3.1. Accounting and Bookkeeping Clerks

a. The average monthly wage rate of accounting and bookkeeping clerks across all industries was recorded at PhP 19,676 in 2022. This translates to a 9.3 percent increase relative to the PhP 18,008 average monthly wage rate in 2020. (Figure 3 and Table 1)

b. By industry group, accounting and bookkeeping clerks working in Information and Communications (PhP 30,731), Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Supply (PhP 30,676), and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Activities (PhP 25,443), were among the top industries receiving high monthly wage rates for this occupation. (Table 1)

c. Comparing the wages across regions, accounting and bookkeeping clerks employed in the National Capital Region (NCR) earned the highest average wage rate of PhP 24,530. This was followed by those employed in Region III - Central Luzon and Region VII - Central Visayas with monthly wage rates estimated at PhP 20,029 and PhP 18,989, respectively. (Table 2)

3.2. Elementary Occupations (Unskilled Workers)

a. The average monthly wage rate of elementary occupations (unskilled workers) across all industries was estimated at PhP 12,276 in 2022 with a 5.9 percent increment from the average monthly wage rate of PhP 11,587 in 2020. (Figure 3 and Table 1)

b. Among industry groups, the highest monthly wage rates for this occupation were recorded in Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Supply at PhP 20,771, Mining and Quarrying at PhP 14,634, and Other Service Activities except Activities of Membership Organizations at PhP 13,579. (Table 1)

c. By region, elementary occupations  were paid an average monthly wage rate of PhP 14,956 per month in NCR. Region II - Cagayan Valley followed with an average monthly wage rate of PhP 13,647 per month. (Table 2)

4. Median Monthly Basic Pay and Allowance Regardless of Job or Position

4.1. Median Monthly Basic Pay 

The median basic pay of time-rated workers on full-time basis across all industries, regardless of job or position, increased to PhP 14,588 per month in 2022. This indicates an increment of 6.9 percent from the PhP 13,646 median basic pay recorded in 2020. Half of the total 5.11 million full-time workers earned a monthly basic pay equal to or less than PhP 14,588, while the other half earned more than this amount. (Table 3)

4.1.1. Median Monthly Basic Pay by Major Industry Group

a.  Of the 18 covered major industries  in 2022, 12 had higher median monthly basic pay compared with the overall median for all industries at PhP 14,588. The median monthly basic pay of workers in the Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Supply industry remained the highest median monthly basic pay at PhP 29,928. This reflects a 9.8 percent increase from the PhP 27,253 median monthly basic pay estimated in 2020. (Table 3)

b. All industries registered median monthly basic pay increases with Mining and Quarrying as the lead with a 21.5 percent growth, that is, from PhP 13,272 in 2020 to PhP 16,132 in 2022. Meanwhile, there was a minimal increase of 1.1 percent in the median monthly basic pay for workers in the Other Service Activities except Activities of Membership Organizations industry at PhP 14,197 in 2022 from PhP 14,045 in 2020.
     
 4.1.2. Median Monthly Basic Pay by Region

a. The highest median basic pay at PhP 16,861 per month was received by workers located in NCR. This was the only region that surpassed the national median monthly basic pay. This was followed by Cordillera Administrative Region with a median basic pay of PhP 13,281 per month.  On the other hand, Region IX - Zamboanga Peninsula had the lowest median basic pay of PhP 9,858 per month. (Table 4)

4.1.3. Median Monthly Basic Pay by Sex

a. In 2022, female time-rated workers on full-time basis had a higher median monthly basic pay of PhP 14,916 compared with their male counterparts whose median basic pay was PhP 14,413. Both male and female workers in NCR received the highest median basic pay of PhP 15,676 and PhP 18,776, respectively. Likewise, median monthly basic pay for both sexes were higher than the national level. The highest disparity of median monthly basic pay of male and female workers was also observed in NCR with a gap of PhP 3,100 per month in favor of female workers. (Table 4)

4.2. Median Monthly Allowance

The median monthly allowance of time-rated workers on full-time basis is at PhP 2,381 in 2022. This was a slight decline of 3.1 percent from the median monthly allowance of PhP 2,456 in 2020. Half of the time-rated workers  on full-time basis with monthly allowance received less than or equal to the monthly allowance of PhP 2,381. (Table 3)

4.2.1. Median Monthly Allowance by Major Industry Group

a. Across all major industries, only 5 out of the 18 industries covered had a higher median monthly allowance than the national median. The median monthly allowance of time-rated workers  on full-time basis engaged in Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation continued to be on top with a median monthly allowance of  PhP 5,247 in 2022. However, this is 14.3 percent lower compared to the median monthly allowance of PhP 6,119 in 2020. (Table 3)

b. Mining and Quarrying industry had a median monthly allowance of PhP 2,003 in 2022, which registered the highest increase of 52.9 percent from the PhP 1,310 in 2020. On the other hand, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing, with a median monthly allowance of PhP 1,110 in 2022, had the biggest decline of 48.1 percent from the PhP 2,137 in 2020.

4.2.2. Median Monthly Allowance by Region

a. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao registered the highest median allowance estimated at PhP 2,757 per month, followed by NCR with PhP 2,681 per month. On the contrary, Region II - Cagayan Valley reported the lowest median allowance at PhP 1,412 per month. (Table 4)

4.2.3. Median Monthly Allowance by Sex

a. Although the overall median monthly allowance for female workers in 2022 was higher at PhP 2,418 compared to the male workers with PhP 2,345, regional breakdowns showed that male workers received higher median monthly allowances in 11 out of the 18 regions. The highest disparity of median monthly allowance was posted in  Region XI - Davao Region with a difference of PhP 591, where female workers are earning higher allowance than male workers.

5. Percent Distribution of Time-Rated Workers by Range of Monthly Basic Pay and Allowance 

a. Among the 5.11 million time-rated workers on full-time basis, most (37.3%) of them had monthly basic pay below PhP 13,000. This was closely followed by workers with basic pay ranging from PhP 13,000 to PhP 19,999 at 36.5 percent. On the other hand, only 4.7 percent had monthly basic pay ranging from PhP 27,000 to PhP 33,999. (Figure 4)      
 

b. Majority (61.0%) of the total time-rated workers on full-time basis  did not receive a monthly allowance in 2022.  For those with monthly allowances, 15.2 percent received an amount below PhP 2,000, while only 1.6 percent were provided monthly allowances ranging from PhP 6,000 to PhP 7,999. (Figure 5) 

CLAIRE DENNIS S. MAPA, PhD    
Undersecretary    
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General