Total wages and salaries paid by employers were $108.8 billion in September 2025, up 5.3 per cent from September 2024, 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 by employers rose by $5.3 billion in the three months from June 2025. This repeats the seasonal pattern we've seen in previous years as some industries pay bonuses in September.
'Annual growth in total wages and salaries to September 2025 was 5.3 per cent, lower than the annual growth to September 2024 of 6.1 per cent.'
| 2022 ($b) | 2023 ($b) | 2024 ($b) | 2025 ($b) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 86.3 | 92.5 | 97.9 | |
| February | 91.5 | 96.8 | 103.4 | |
| March | 92.5 | 99.0 | 104.4 | |
| April | 91.2 | 97.6 | 103.0 | |
| May | 91.0 | 96.8 | 102.1 | |
| June | 92.6 | 98.2 | 103.4 | |
| July | 85.8 | 92.0 | 98.1 | 103.5 |
| August | 87.3 | 93.8 | 99.5 | 104.9 |
| September | 90.5 | 97.3 | 103.3 | 108.8 |
| October | 87.6 | 94.4 | 99.9 | |
| November | 89.8 | 97.0 | 102.1 | |
| December | 89.6 | 96.2 | 101.4 |
All 19 industries saw a rise in total wages and salaries paid by employers between August and September 2025, with the strongest rises coming from five industries that pay periodic bonuses in September - Mining, Electricity, gas, water and waste services, Retail trade, Information media and telecommunications, and Financial and insurance services.
Together, these five industries accounted for over half of the month rise in wages and salaries to September 2025 (57 per cent or $2.2 billion), despite representing less than one quarter of the total wages and salaries paid.
Except for Retail trade, these industries also pay periodic bonuses around February and March.
| Financial and insurance services ($m) | Retail trade ($m) | Information media and telecommunications ($m) | Mining ($m) | Electricity, gas, water and waste services ($m) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep-24 | 809.3 | 508.3 | 303.6 | 295.6 | 163.5 |
| Oct-24 | -833.2 | -405.2 | -468.7 | -479.8 | -127.3 |
| Nov-24 | 280.1 | 148.7 | 87.9 | 19.9 | -18.5 |
| Dec-24 | 83.6 | 120.5 | -88.9 | 42.6 | 10.6 |
| Jan-25 | -369.0 | -286.8 | 35.1 | -33.3 | -31.3 |
| Feb-25 | 471.3 | 64.0 | 190.4 | 432.4 | 104.5 |
| Mar-25 | 208.1 | 22.8 | -43.7 | 287.5 | 58.6 |
| Apr-25 | -501.3 | -4.8 | -89.6 | -599.3 | -37.8 |
| May-25 | 20.9 | -176.2 | -14.3 | -98.9 | -16.2 |
| Jun-25 | 44.6 | 122.6 | 57.4 | 33.7 | -0.9 |
| Jul-25 | -18.8 | 22.8 | -41.1 | 27.2 | -1.1 |
| Aug-25 | 117.7 | 48.5 | 121.1 | 241.1 | 17.2 |
| Sep-25 | 838.7 | 519.7 | 325.4 | 295.7 | 181.7 |
- Change values represent the month-on-month difference in wages and salaries for the selected industries.
