In the first three months of the year, both gross and net wages increased by 13.7% – this is down from respective growth rates of 17.5% and 16.5% in the first two months, boosted by bonus payments in the public sector – this year these occurred entirely in January, whereas previously such payments were made in December. Real wages were up 9.7% in Q1.
The KSH now publishes a "regular payment index," a figure excluding the effects of bonus and other one-off payments. Regular payments rose 7.0% in the first three months across the economy, showing 6.9% growth in the competitive and 7.4% in the budgetary sector, the KSH noted. In March alone, gross wages in the competitive sphere were up 5.3%, which compares to 8.5% growth in the public sphere.
In a breakdown by industry, gross wages were lowest in textile and leather manufacturing (HUF 63,249) at under 50% of the national average, while employees were by far best paid in the financial sector (HUF 336,585), receiving over twice the average Hungarian employee.
