China's migrant workers see steady income rise in 2024

Beijing: China s migrant workers earned higher wages and experienced improved living standards last year, according to a survey released by the Nation...

Beijing: China's migrant workers earned higher wages and experienced improved living standards last year, according to a survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

In 2024, the total number of migrant workers in the country reached 299.73 million, an increase of 2.2 million from the previous year, representing an increase of 0.7 percent, according to the survey.

The average monthly income of migrant workers rose to 4,961 yuan (about 689 U.S. dollars) in 2024, up 3.8 percent year on year.

Those working outside their hometowns earned an average of 5,634 yuan per month, up 3.5 percent, while those working within their registered townships saw a slightly faster wage growth of 3.9 percent, with average monthly earnings reaching 4,291 yuan.

The tertiary sector, which includes industries such as retail, logistics and hospitality, continued to dominate migrant worker employment in 2024, accounting for 54.6 percent of the workforce, a 0.8 percentage point increase from 2023. Meanwhile, the share of workers in the secondary sector, including manufacturing and construction, declined by 0.8 percentage points to 44.7 percent.