Average Salary in Philippines in 2024

The average monthly salary in the Philippines in 2024 is estimated to be PHP 539,755.48, the equivalent of $9,528 per year.

The article also looks at the average salaries in the Philippines by occupation, region, education, and gender to help you understand income levels across different groups.

Key takeaways:

• The Average Filipino family income in 2023 was estimated at PHP 353,230/year.
• The employment rate is 96% as of June 2024, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
• The average salary in the Philippines is around 94% lower than in the United States.
• The country is on track to achieve Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC) status shortly, according to The World Bank.
• Although women in the Philippines are generally more educated than men, they are less likely to participate in the labor force. (The World Bank, Philippines Human Capital Review)
• The lowest-paying occupations in the Philippines are agriculture, retail, and hospitality.

Key average salaries stats:

• Average annual salary: PHP 539,755.48 (USD 9,545.76), source: OECD
• Average monthly salary: PHP 44,979.62 (USD 795.48), source: OECD
• Median salary: 18,423 PHP (USD 354) in 2022, with an estimated 20,583 PHP (USD 396) in 2024
• National minimum wage per day: PHP 610 in (USD 10.79) Metro Manilla
• Gender pay gap: 20.9%

Philippines average salary

According to the OECD, the average annual salary in the Philippines is PHP 539,755.48 ($9,528).

The monthly equivalent is PHP 44,979.62 ($794,62).

According to a compensation survey done by WTW, the average salary in the Philippines has been on steady growth in the last few years, particularly since the pandemic. Growing trends have been noticed across all industries. However, concerns regarding the Philippines’ tight labor market and high inflation influence salary increases.

Median salary 

According to WTW’s compensation survey, in 2024, companies in the Philippines are estimated to have a 5.7% increase in the median salary.

According to the latest data from the Philippines Statistics Authority, the median salary in 2022 was 18,423 PHP (354 USD) per month. Projecting forward with an estimated annual growth rate of 5.7%, the median monthly salary is expected to reach approximately 20,583 PHP (396 USD) in 2024.

This translates to a median annual salary of 247,000 PHP or 4,750 USD.

Note that, according to the definition of the median salary, the above incomes provide a representative picture of what a typical Filipino worker earns. Namely, half of the population earns more than the median salary, while the other half earns less. In order words, in 2022:

• half of the Filipino employees earned less than 18,423 PHP per month
• while the other half of the working population earned more than 18,423 PHP.

In essence, the median wage is a useful benchmark for understanding the country’s income distribution and economic condition and is less influenced by outliers such as a small number of very high earners that can pull the average up.

Minimum salary in the Philippines

In the Philippines, you need to take a multi-faceted and granular approach to have a realistic overview of the salaries. The minimum wage is set in the Wage Rationalization Act, Republic Act No. 6727, which sets daily minimum wages for Filipino workers based on the region, province, and type of employment.

The Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) set different minimum wages for agricultural (plantation and non-plantation) and non-agricultural workers.

Here are some examples of the wide variation in rates across regions in 2024:

• National Capital Region (non-agricultural activities): PHP 610 per day
• National Capital Region (plantation and non-plantation): PHP 533
• Caraga Region, Mindanao (non-agricultural): PHP 385 per day. As living costs in the Caraga region are considerably lower than in urban centers, wages are set accordingly so Filipino workers can live comfortably.

Regarding trends, the Department of Labor and Employment shows data that proves increases in the minimum wages in the Philippines in the last years, denoting that wages are getting closer to closing the poverty gaps and matching regional economic realities.

Recent increases in several regions between 2022 and 2024 are as follows:

• In the National Capital Region, the non-agricultural minimum wage increased from PHP537 (2022) to PHP 570 (2022) to PHP 610 (2023)
• In the Davao Region, the non-agricultural minimum wage is set to increase from PHP 443 to PHP 462, effective September 1, 2024

Note that if you’re considering hiring an outsourced Philippines team, you need to operate according to the regional minimum wages to comply with labor regulations.

Source: Department of Labor and Employment of the National Wages and Productivity Commission

Average salary by city

As mentioned above, depending on the region in the Philippines, there are high disparities between average salaries.

 Average salary by education

Education level significantly impacts salary in the Philippines, as revealed by Salaryexploerer.com.

• Professionals with a certificate or diploma earn 17% more than high school graduates, while those with a Bachelor’s degree earn 24% more than certificate or diploma holders.
• The income gap widens more for postgraduate degrees, with Master’s graduates earning 29% more than Bachelor’s graduates and Ph.D. holders earning 23% more than Master’s degree holders in the same job role.

The financial benefits of investing in higher education in the Philippines are indisputable, although the actual income earnings will vary depending on the industry, company, location, and individual factors.

Average salary by occupation

According to the 2022 Occupational Wages Survey (OWS), there are significant disparities between average monthly salaries for different occupations and industries in the Philippines.

The highest-paying jobs are concentrated in sectors such as air transport, information technology, insurance, and healthcare, while, on the other side of the spectrum are sectors like agriculture, retail, and hospitality with lower average salaries.

Main findings:

• Aircraft pilots and associated professionals in the air transport industry earned the highest average monthly wage at 135,363 PHP in 2022;
• IT professionals, particularly software developers, ranked second with an average monthly salary of 70,595 PHP;
• Four of the top ten paying occupations, such as mathematicians, actuaries, programmers, statisticians, and accountants, were engaged in Insurance, Reinsurance, and Pension funding except Compulsory Social Security;
• Other lucrative roles included production supervisors in the utility sector (63,017 PHP/month) and employees in Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air conditioning supply and other Mining activities (PHP 49,059 per month);
• The lowest-paying occupations were in agriculture, retail, and hospitality, with salaries often closer to the national minimum wage. For instance, agricultural laborers, sales assistants, and food service workers typically earned less than 15,000 PHP per month.

Top ten highest salaries in the Philippines in 2022, according to the 2022 Occupational Wages Survey:

Gender pay gap

The Philippines has been considered one of the most gender-equal countries in Southeast Asia, ranking in the best positions in the Global Gender Gap Reports done by the World Economic Forum over the last few years. In 2024, the Philippines took 24th place in the Global Gender Gap Report, with a gender parity score of 77.9%, meaning that women earn, on average, 79.1% of what men earn.

In other words, for every Philippine pesos a man earns, a woman earns approximately 79.1 cents (or centavos), indicating a gender pay gap of 20.9%.

Despite this, the Philippines faces systemic gender issues rooted in labor history and traditional gender roles that need to be addressed. A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in 2022 revealed that women in digital jobs earn 18.4% less than their male counterparts. In the agricultural sector, using 2018 daily rates, the earnings ratio showed that for every peso earned by a male worker, a female worker earned 92 centavos.

This gap is driven by systemic factors like traditional gender roles, hiring biases, and societal norms that undervalue women’s work. Addressing these barriers requires efforts to dismantle them and promote gender equality in the workplace and beyond.

Hallmarks of the labor market in Philippines

The World Bank Philippines Human Capital Review report published in 2024 revealed some interesting macroeconomics stats about the Philippines:

• The Philippines saw strong economic growth, averaging 6.3% from 2011 to 2019, positioning it as a regional leader. Despite setbacks from the pandemic, the country is on track to achieve Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC) status shortly.
• Filipino talent plays a significant role in this growth, with over 70% of the nation’s wealth attributed to its people.
• The services sector dominates the economy, making up around 60%, while remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) contributed 8.5% in 2023.
• Although women in the Philippines are generally more educated than men, they are less likely to participate in the labor force.
• The Philippines has a large diaspora of skilled workers who, upon returning home, could contribute to skill development and industry growth.

The outsourcing industry in the Philippines

The Philippine outsourcing industry has significantly contributed to the country’s economy, driving job creation and revenue growth. As a global leader in business process outsourcing (BPO), the industry has consistently strengthened the nation’s GDP, with over 1.57 million full-time employees and $32.5 billion in revenue in 2022 alone, according to IBPAP, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines.

Key factors such as a young, English-proficient workforce, favorable government policies, and strong digital infrastructure make the Philippines an attractive destination for outsourcing.

Despite challenges like lack of automation and the need for continuous workforce upskilling, the industry is growing continuously, with projections of reaching $59 billion in revenue and creating an additional one million jobs by 2028.

Poverty in the Philippines

As the Philippines often had poverty issues, it’s necessary to surface insights into poverty rates, too. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on the poverty statistics that, overall, poverty incidences decreased in 2023

At a national level, the poverty incidence among families was 10.9%, affecting approximately 2.99 million families. Notably, poverty incidence decreased significantly in 11 out of 18 regions compared to 2021, with Caraga showing the most significant improvement, dropping from 25.9% to 14.9%.

On the other hand, some regions saw an increase in poverty incidence, with the Negros Island Region (NIR) experiencing a significant rise of 4.4 percentage points. NCR remained the least poor, with a poverty incidence of only 1.1%, while Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) recorded the highest at 24.2%.

In 2023, the national average poverty threshold for a family of five was PHP 13,873 per month. Nine regions had thresholds higher than this average, with Central Luzon having the highest at PHP 16,046. Conversely, Region XII (Soccsksargen) had the lowest threshold at PHP 12,241.

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Sources:

https://nwpc.dole.gov.ph/#dmwr

https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/income-expenditure/fies

https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/occupational-wages-survey/node/1684060826

https://psa.gov.ph/content/average-annual-family-income-2023-estimated-php-35323-thousand

https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/poverty

https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/in-the-news/philippines-improves-in-2023-world-gender-equality-ranking

https://www.salaryexplorer.com/average-salary-wage-comparison-philippines-c171#disabled

https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2024.pdf