Wages increased by 3.4 percent on average in 2025, falling just short of the 3.8 percent inflation rate for the year.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed that the Wage Price Index (WPI) was up 0.8 percent in the December quarter 2025.
This put the annual increase at 3.4 percent, just above the 3.3 percent recorded in the September quarter.
Across both the private and public sector, wages rose 0.8 per cent but annualised increases were higher in the public sector for the fourth consecutive quarter.
“Strong growth in public sector wages for 2025 was due to new state public sector agreements that delivered multiple pay rises over the course of the year,” ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said.
“Multiple pay rises occurred when agreements included backdated increases that took effect soon after the agreement was finalised, and a further scheduled rise was received later in the year.”
Annual public sector wage growth was 4.0 percent in the year to December 2025, higher than the 2.8 percent at the same time last year.
Private sector wages rose 3.4 per cent over the same period. This was higher than the 3.3 per cent growth recorded in the year to December 2024.
In the December quarter, the health and education sectors had the largest wage increases, as shown in the table below.
