Is Hungary at the top of the wage growth list?

As Origo.hu reports, based on the previous estimation of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC), in 2018, it is Hungary where wages are going to increase at the fastest pace among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The 4.9% increase in wages happening with a low inflation rate might also improve the efficiency of the Hungarian economy.

According to the TUC, there are hardly any Central European countries which can keep up with the Hungarian wage increase. Those who approach Hungary are Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

Another important fact to add is that in Western Europe, wages do not really increase at all compared to Hungary. Moreover, in Spain, Italy and Great Britain, wages are going to fall indeed, while in other European countries, the anticipated pay rise is not going to reach even a 1% increase.

Here is a table about wage growth in the world!

Wage rise as medicine

László György, director of the Macroeconomic Business Sector of Századvég and honorary associate professor of the Neumann János University, reports to Origo that “it is not justified to talk about the decrease of competitiveness when it comes to the wage increase.”

“Hungarian employees are underpaid since they do not benefit as much from their earned income as the employees of the developed Western countries.”