The Central Statistical Office (KSH) said wages grew by an annual 13.7 percent in January, up from 9.7 percent in December, the fastest growth in 18 months, on Monday. The growth was driven by bigger public sector paycheques and a minimum wage rise. The average gross wage for full-time employees at businesses with at least five people on payroll was HUF 467,300 (EUR 1,250). The average net wage was HUF 310,700. Real wage growth was 5.4 percent, calculating with January CPI of 7.9 percent.
Excluding the 78,800 Hungarians working full time in fostered work programmes – who earned on average gross 98,500 forints in January – the average gross monthly wage in Hungary was HUF 477,700. The average gross wage in the business sector, which includes state-owned companies, rose by 12.5 percent to HUF 477,200, excluding fostered workers. The average gross wage in the public sector, excluding fostered workers, rose by 12.3 percent to HUF 474,900. In the non-profit sector, the average gross wage, without fostered workers, jumped by 30.3 percent to HUF 493,600, as a number of people working in education who were earlier counted in the public sector were reclassified. A broader set of data covering all full-time employees, not only the ones at employers with a payroll of five or more, show the average gross wage stood at HUF 454,800 and the average net wage at HUF 302,400 in January. The median gross wage was HUF 360,700.
Excluding fostered workers, full-timers earned a gross monthly HUF 464,300 and net HUF 308,700. People working in the financial and insurance sector were the highest earners in January, getting a gross monthly HUF 785,200 paycheque on average. People working in commercial accommodations and catering earned the least: HUF 303,300 on average. January data show men earned, on average, 18.9 percent more than women during the period.
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