Employers paid $107.4 billion in total wages and salaries in December 2025, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: 'The total wages and salaries paid in December 2025 is 5.7 per cent higher than in December 2024, which matches the previous year's annual growth seen to December 2024.
'The annual rise of 5.7 per cent seen in both December 2024 and 2025 is lower than the 7.2 per cent annual rise to December 2023, which included post-pandemic growth.'
Annual growth includes the combined effects of changes over the year from underlying wage and employment growth, hours worked, and periodic payments.
| 2022-23 ($m) | 2023-24 ($m) | 2024-25 ($m) | 2025-26 ($m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul | 85,816 | 91,945 | 98,008 | 103,103 |
| Aug | 87,288 | 93,768 | 99,415 | 104,495 |
| Sep | 90,559 | 97,320 | 103,243 | 108,369 |
| Oct | 87,630 | 94,395 | 99,811 | 105,724 |
| Nov | 89,800 | 96,964 | 102,004 | 107,932 |
| Dec | 89,667 | 96,167 | 101,601 | 107,365 |
| Jan | 86,238 | 92,435 | 97,912 | |
| Feb | 91,436 | 96,785 | 103,398 | |
| Mar | 92,437 | 98,955 | 104,345 | |
| Apr | 91,175 | 97,573 | 102,922 | |
| May | 90,946 | 96,783 | 102,042 | |
| Jun | 92,543 | 98,121 | 103,393 |
'This release includes a new measure called employee jobs, which shows the number of employees who received wages and salaries each month,' Mr Crick said.
'Employee jobs allow us to better understand month movements in total wages and salaries.
'For example, in the three months to December 2025, total wages and salaries fell by 0.9 per cent or $1.0 billion after bonuses paid in September.
'Over the same period, the new employee jobs measure contributed a smaller fall of 0.3 per cent.'
