South Korea's manufacturing wage level has risen about 61 percent since 2000, said a report by the National Statistical Office and the Labor Ministry on Monday.

Using 2000 as the base year, the index measuring wage level in the manufacturing sector stood at 161.1 as of the end of June this year, which means that the wage has increased 61.1 percent during the cited period, the report said.

South Korea's wage increase was the second-highest among 12 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries after Hungary, whose wage level jumped 80.1 percent during the past six years, said the report.

During the past six years, the wage level in the United States has increased by 17.2 percent, while that for Canada was 11.9 percent.

The consumer prices in South Korea have increased 20.3 percent during the past six years, compared with the a 17.8-percent rise in the U.S. and Canada's 14.9-percent gain, the report said.

Source: Xinhua