Earnings in manufacturing generally relate to the average wages per worker from all jobs currently held in manufacturing as a whole. Earnings normally include bonuses, cost of living allowances, taxes, social insurance contributions payable by the employed person and, in some cases, payments in kind, and normally exclude social insurance and pension contributions payable by the employers, family allowances, other social security benefits and severance pay. The time of year to which the figures refer is not the same for all countries. The data are derived from (a) labour force sample surveys, (b) labour-related establishment surveys, (c) employment office statistics and (d) insurance records. Unless otherwise noted, the data refer to employees of both sexes, irrespective of age.

Some of the series do not conform to the above for one or more of the following reasons: different type of source or coverage, inclusion of non-manufacturing industries, earnings from solely main job and use of wage rates, instead of earnings.

For further details, see the website: http://www.ilo.org/ilostat.