Hungary gross wages climb, 200,000 Hungarians in fostered work

Budapest, January 20 (MTI) – The average gross wage in Hungary rose by an annual 8.2 percent to 285,800 forints (EUR 926 ) in November, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday.

Net wage growth outpaced the increase, climbing 9.8 percent to 190,000 forints (EUR 616) due to a one percentage point cut in the personal income tax rate from January 2016.

KSH noted that wages have been boosted last year by a higher minimum wage as well as pay increases for the armed forces and wage top-ups for social services and healthcare workers.

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Excluding the 200,000 Hungarians in fostered work, the average gross wage rose by 8.3 percent to 302,124 forints, while net wages increased by 10 percent to 200,913 forints.

Full-time fostered workers earned gross 80,725 forints (EUR 262) on average during the month, 1.3 percent more than in the same period a year earlier.

Commenting on the data, state secretary for the labour market at the economy ministry, Péter Cseresnyés, said both gross and real wages had been rising continuously for the past forty-seven months. Real wage growth was 7.5 percent over the first eleven months of 2016, leaving consumers with an extra month’s worth of income, he said. Real wages grew by 6.8 percent in the private sector and by more than 10 percent in the public sector, he added. Cseresnyés said the 5-percentage point drop in payroll taxes incorporated into last year’s wage deal between the government, unions and employers would allow companies to raise not just lower but higher wages as well.

Source: MTI