China’s manufacturing workforce 10 times larger than the U.S. sector

China’s manufacturing sector now boasts almost 10 times the amount of workers than the United States, according to recent findings from the Conference Board’s International Labor Comparisons (ILC) program.

Tracking data from 2013 — the most current year available — the ILC found that China had around 114 million manufacturing employees earning a total hourly compensation cost of $4.12 per hour compared to $36.34 per hour earned by the 12 million manufacturing employees in the U.S. during the same year.

China and other countries, such as India, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, Taiwan, Brazil and Vietnam are able to pay much lower wages than the U.S., ranging from $1.59 to $9.51 per hour.

As of 2015, only seven countries in the world had higher average hourly worker compensation costs — Switzerland (hourly rate unavailable but higher than the $37.71 per hour reported during the same period); Norway ($49.67); Belgium ($46.56); Denmark ($44.44); Germany ($42.42); Sweden ($41.68); Australia ($38.75); and Finland ($38.46).

Hourly costs are compiled by the ILC program to include direct salary, bonuses, overtime, health care costs/taxes, pension, and social insurance. The Conference Board took over the tracking of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013.