Has the wage gap between the capital and the countryside declined in Hungary?

In recent years, the wage gap between salaries has been widening progressively. However, for the first time in years, net earnings have reached the national average in not one, but two counties, although this also required wage dynamics in the capital to slow down.

Figures from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) showed that in Budapest, the average monthly wage of those employed full-time was HUF 467,286 (EUR 1,203), in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, one of the poorest counties in the country, it was only HUF 271,320 (EUR 699) in 2023, which is almost HUF 200,000 less, as there is still a big gap in salaries in Hungary, Világgazdaság reports.

Salaries in the capital have been growing below the national average for a long time. In addition to Budapest, earnings reached the national average in Győr-Moson-Sopron county and Komárom-Esztergom county for the first time in years. 17 counties didn’t reach the national average, which was HUF 379,836 (EUR 998), as Békés, Nógrád and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg couldn’t even reach HUF 300,000 (EUR 772).

Wages of manual workers have increased

As Portfolio recently wrote, the average hourly wages of manual workers increased by almost 20% in Hungary. The average hourly wages of manual workers ranged from HUF 1,700 (EUR 4.4) to HUF 1,900 (EUR 4.9) at the end of 2023, according to Trenkwalder’s data. There was also a smaller gap between the salaries in a geographical comparison, only those living in Budapest and Central Hungary earn more, in the other regions of the country, the salaries are more balanced.

Viktor Hamrák, Trankwalder’s director of services, stated that the increase in the national minimum wage played a large role in this trend, as the wage increases usually start in January, not in December. He also claimed that as inflation rose by only 5.5% in December compared to the level of a year earlier, it can be stated that real wages are back on the growth track after the decline experienced in 2023.