TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The number of young people working fell by about 100,000 over the past decade, according to labor ministry statistics published Monday.

The ministry said 1.96 million young people (ages 15 to 29) were employed in 2024, down from 2.09 million in 2014, per Yahoo News. It attributed this to the declining birth rate and more people engaging in higher education.

The ministry said about 66% of the employed young people had a college education or higher. It said the number of college-educated employed young people increased by 117,000 compared to 2014.

The statistics come from a labor ministry study that surveyed 4,091 working young people in October and November. The study found that the average salary for this group increased by 2.8% compared to the year before and that the average age to enter the workforce was 21.8 years old.

The survey found 76% of young workers earned a salary, and 72% said they had received a pay raise in their current job. The average monthly salary for all young workers was NT$34,000 (US$1,025), while those under 25 earned NT$27,000 on average.

Just over 73% of the survey’s respondents said they work 40 hours per week, 14.5% said they worked less, and 11% said they worked more. The average working hours were 38.7 per week.

The survey also found that over 65% of young workers rarely or never work overtime, and on average worked 13.3 hours overtime per month. Men worked an average of 15.6 overtime hours per month, and women worked 11.4.