Hungarian living standards could deteriorate further in the months ahead
Wages in Hungary are rising, but so does inflation, only even faster. Purchasing power in Hungary might deteriorate further in the following months due to record-high inflation.
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) published the latest figures on the growth of gross wages in December. According to the Office, gross wages grew by 18.1 percent in last December, bringing the average gross wage to HUF 582,000 (EUR 1,523). This, however, does not mitigate sufficiently the adverse effects of inflation according to portfolio.hu.
As inflation reached record highs in last December, real earnings fell by 5 percent, marking a significant decline. Inflation is only to be tipped to peak during the first months of 2023, therefore it is highly unlikely that the fall in real wages have stopped last year.
At the beginning of this year, inflation started approaching 26 percent, Portfolio predicts that real wages could continue to fall in 2023. The minimum wage and the minimum wage for skilled workers have only increased by 16 and 14 percent, respectively, at a lower rate than last year.
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Coupled with the worsening economic outlook, the result could be that the first few months of the year are likely to see a decline in the purchasing power of earnings. Only a fall in inflation could bring relief.
Higher wages
Average gross earnings were highest in financial and insurance activities (HUF 859,600 ≈ EUR 2,260) and lowest in the accommodation and catering sector (HUF 321,500 ≈ EUR 845).
Average gross earnings were HUF 565,700 (EUR 1,487) for men and HUF 467,900 (EUR 1,230) for women in full-time employment, an increase of 18.1 percent for men and 16.5 percent for women over a year.
Overall, in 2022, real earnings rose by 2.6 percent. Although real earnings started to fall at the end of 2022, it was still a positive figure for the year as a whole. The reason is that the pace of wage growth in the first half of the year was still higher than the much lower inflation rate at the time.
However, consumer prices were up by 14.5 percent compared to the previous year. This has proven to be challenging for the population of the country. Especially, if we consider the more telling median figures:
According to KSH, the median value of gross earnings was HUF 403,100 (EUR 1,060), 15.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
The median value of net earnings after discounts was HUF 280,600 (EUR 737), up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.
Read alsoRental market turnaround might not come that soon in Hungary
Source: portfolio.hu, KSH
2 Comments
Social Inequality – break it ALL down, and ANSWER these (2) three questions.
Who in Hungary – is ZONING in on the factual answers to my questions.
Its continuation, in Hungary, its widening factor, just KEEPS pulling us our lives APART, in the millions.
In the near 13 years that Orban and his Government have RULED Hungary – has Social Inequality bettered it-self percentage wise in the population decreasing in this time in Hungary?
OR
In the 13 years that Orban and his Government have RULED Hungary – has Social Inequality – WORSENED?
Have the RICH got RICHER and the POOR grown Massively in number ?
My answer is the Social Inequality in Hungary has HORRENDOUSLY increased, that its way off – getting to its bottom IMPACTING effects, on the Hungarian population – and that’s SCARY but a FACT.
That’s just normal politics, rich gets richer because of their influence, not because “it’s Orbán” Every country has this. And who are the victims of that? The lower and average wages people get. But again, this is not the fault of Orbán or anybody else in the government, it’s the rich people pushing and blatantly are bribing the politics in such way that they can’t refuse.