Average net wages – excluding family tax allowances -- increased at above the rate of inflation in January-March 2013, by 4.2 percent year-on-year.

According to the latest data by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), real wages also increased taking only the third month of the year into account. In light of the statistics, the average gross wage of those employed in a full-time job was HUF 229 691 within the national economy in March 2013, which corresponds to an increase of 3.2 percent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The net wage – at HUF 150 448 – was up by 4.4 percent compared to March 2012, but this figures does not take into account the favourable effect of family tax allowances for children. This improvement equals a wage increase of 2.2 percent in real terms, with annual inflation of 2.2 percent recorded in March.

In Q1 2013, the average gross wage of full-time employees was HUF 225 605 within the national economy. Employees earned, on average, HUF 234 744 and HUF 212 561 in the private and public sectors (the latter excluding public work employees), respectively, while the average wage of a public work employee was HUF 77 300. In the initial three months of the year, average gross and net wages were up by 2.9 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively, within the national economy compared to the figures of the same period last year.

Average net wages in the private sector increased by 3.9 percent, while at budgetary institutions net wages were up 4.2 percent, excluding public work schemes. In the initial three months of the year, the purchasing power of wages increased in both sectors, whereas within the national economy wages increased by 1.3 percent in real terms parallel to an inflation rate of 2.9 percent in January-March 2013.

On the basis of the latest data, it was the third month that the purchasing power of wages increased within the national economy, which may exert a positive influence on economic growth via higher consumer demand.

(Ministry for National Economy)