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Tables and Figures for: Salaried Labor Costs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Ten - Year Update

By Social Protection and Labor Markets Division (VPS/SCL/SPL)

The tension between productivity and labor costs in Latin America and the Caribbean remains one of the greatest challenges to creating formal employment. This note estimates the cost of salaried formal labor in 19 Latin American and Caribbean countries for 2023, updating two key indicators previously calculated by the IDB: the average non-wage cost of salaried labor (NWC) and the minimum cost of salaried labor (MCSL) and introducing a new measure: the cost of formalizing informal labor (CFIL). Results show that labor costs have risen since 2013, with increasing divergence across countries. In 2023, the regional average NWC reached 51.1% of formal wages, while the MCSL represented 43.1% of GDP per worker. The CFIL indicates that formalizing a worker costs, on average, 88% more than the informal wage. The note includes projections for 2025 to incorporate recent reforms in 6 countries.

This dataset includes the country-level tables and figures for the three indicators of the cost of salaried labor presented in the technical note for 2013 and 2023, as well as projections for 2025 reflecting recent reforms in six countries.

What the data covers

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The indicators are measured for 2013 and 2023, and the non-wage cost and the minimum cost are projected to 2025. The 2023 non-wage cost covers every country except Nicaragua, and the cost of formalization every country except Nicaragua and Venezuela.

What it contains

Two Excel workbooks. The first holds the note's figures and tables with the data behind each: the three indicators by country and component; the real minimum wage as a share of GDP per worker; mandatory contributions split between employees and employers and into pensions, health and other contributions; the change in contribution rates from 2013 to 2025; each country's labor cost parameters in 2025; minimum wages from 2023 to 2025; and measures of the difficulty of individual dismissal. Appendix tables describe the other mandatory contributions in each country and the changes in method since the 2013 estimates. The second workbook, the annex, has one calculation sheet per country with the inputs to the 2025 estimates: GDP, the PPP conversion factor, employment and GDP per worker; the minimum, formal and informal wage; each mandatory contribution with its worker and employer rate; and the bonus, paid leave, firing notice and severance entitlements, with the legal source of each. It also holds a summary of total labor costs by country and charts, labeled in Spanish, that relate labor costs to formal employment and compare the region with OECD countries.

How the data was collected

From a review of each country's labor and social security legislation, following the methodology of the IDB's 2013 estimates, with the changes the appendix lists. The tables cite official institutions of each country, such as ministries of labor, central banks and official decrees. In the annex, GDP, purchasing-power-parity conversion factors and employment come from World Bank data, and wages from household surveys and official sources.

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Metadata & use

Identifier https://doi.org/10.60966/qasbx3a4
License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Related Knowledge Product
Citation

Minaya, Auri (2026). Tables and Figures for: Salaried Labor Costs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Ten - Year Update. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/qasbx3a4
Published date 2026-02-27
Modified date 2026-11-09
Tags/Keywords Labor Force · Formal Labor · Informal Labor · Wage · Labor Legislation · Minimum Wage · Gross Domestic Product · Job Stability · Rating · Labor Cost
Language
  1. English
Temporal coverage 2013-2025
Country
Honduras
Guatemala
Bolivia
Ecuador
Costa Rica
Peru
El Salvador
Panama
Jamaica
Colombia
Venezuela
Argentina
Brazil
Chile
Uruguay
Dominican Republic
Trinidad & Tobago
Mexico
Nicaragua
Paraguay
Region Latin America and the Caribbean
Publisher
Inter-American Development Bank
Author
Minaya, Auri
Data collection type Observational Data
Statistical type Cross-sectional Data
Data structure Semistructured Data
Dataset unit of observation

Country
Data notes

What is this dataset?

The tables, figures and annex behind the IDB technical note "Salaried Labor Costs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Ten-Year Update". It is the data the note is built on, not the note itself. The note updates to 2023 the IDB's estimates of the cost of formal salaried labor, first made for 2013.

What does it measure?

Three indicators of the cost of formal salaried labor. The average non-wage cost of salaried labor (NWC) gathers the costs of a formal job other than the wage — mandatory contributions, bonuses, paid leave and job-security provisions — as a share of the average annual wage of formal workers. The minimum cost of salaried labor (MCSL) is the full cost of employing a worker at the minimum wage, as a share of GDP per worker. The cost of formalizing informal labor (CFIL) is the extra cost of employing an informal worker formally, as a share of the average informal wage.

What does it contain?

Two Excel workbooks. The first holds the note's figures and tables with the data behind each: the three indicators by country and component, the minimum wage relative to GDP per worker, mandatory contributions by payer and branch, the change in contribution rates since 2013, each country's labor cost parameters in 2025, minimum wages from 2023 to 2025 and measures of how difficult individual dismissal is, together with appendix tables on other contributions and on the changes in method since the 2013 estimates. The second, the annex, has one calculation sheet per country with the inputs to the 2025 estimates and the legal source of each.

Which countries are included?

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The 2023 non-wage cost covers all of them except Nicaragua, and the cost of formalization all except Nicaragua and Venezuela. Some of the annex charts also compare the region with OECD countries.

What time period does it cover?

The indicators are measured for 2013 and 2023, and the non-wage cost and the minimum cost are projected to 2025 to reflect recent reforms. Contribution rates are traced from 2013 to 2025 and minimum wages from 2023 to 2025. The annex parameters use GDP and wage data for 2024 and the contributions and benefits in force on August 1, 2025.

How should the values be read?

The indicators and their components are fractions of their base: a value of 0.511 is 51.1 percent. The non-wage cost is a share of the average annual wage of formal workers, the minimum cost a share of GDP per worker, and the cost of formalization a share of the average informal wage. Some sheets label the average non-wage cost ACSL. In the annex, monetary values are in US dollars at purchasing power parity unless a local currency is named, entitlements are in days, and firing notice and severance pay are calculated for a worker with five years of seniority.

How was the data collected?

From a review of each country's labor and social security legislation, following the methodology of the IDB's 2013 estimates, with the changes the appendix lists. The tables cite official institutions of each country, such as ministries of labor, central banks and official decrees. In the annex, GDP, purchasing-power-parity conversion factors and employment come from World Bank data, and wages from household surveys and official sources.

How can it be used?

To compare the cost of formal salaried employment across countries and between 2013 and 2023, to see which components — contributions, bonuses, paid leave or job-security provisions — account for the differences and the changes, and to trace each estimate back to the statutory parameters and wages behind it.

In what format is it available, and under what licence?

As two Excel workbooks available for download. It is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0), which allows sharing and adaptation, including commercially, provided appropriate credit is given.

How do I cite it?

Use the citation shown on this page, which names the author, the year, the title, IDB Open Data as the publisher, and the dataset's DOI.

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