| In 2005, despite slowdown in the expansion of the global economy, international demand for industrial raw materials, such as crude oil, steel, and plastic and chemical, remained high, boosting their international prices and Taiwan's imports costs. However, with appreciation of the NT dollar offsetting some of the price pressure, in 2005 the import price index rose 2.42%. Meanwhile, due to acute competition for information-technology and electronics products, exports quotes continued to drop, driving down the import price index by 2.45%. The wholesale price index inched up 0.61%.
Due to the effect of weather, produce prices surged and soaring international crude-oil prices drove up the costs of energy and transportation, leading to swings in consumer prices, which advanced 2.3% in 2005. Average per-capita monthly wage (including regular and irregular pays) in the industrial and service sectors in 2005 reached NT$43,615, up 1.38% over 2994, including NT$35,683 of regular pay, up 0.99. After taking the factor of price hikes into account, the average monthly decreased by 0.9% in real terms. |
