The average gross wage in Hungary was HUF 327,100, Varga announced. The increase in the January-October period was 11.6 percent compared with the same period in 2017, with gross wages in the first ten months averaging HUF 324,400 and net wages HUF 215,700.
Varga said the wage increase was in line with the growing economic performance of Hungary and also helped by a six-year wage agreement struck between the government, employers and employees. The other reason was that unemployment in Hungary has dropped under 4 percent at the end of last year and has hovered around 3.7-3.8 percent since. The labor shortage in some sectors of the economy has also contributed to the wage rise.
Varga said, however, that representatives of employers and employees had yet to agree on the skilled and unskilled minimum wage increases for next year, an important element of economic stability. He said that economic growth next year would slow down slightly to around 4 percent (compared with an expected 4.7-4.8 percent this year), meaning that wage increases will also slow down accordingly, but consumption and investments are expected to rise faster.
Title image: Finance Minister Mihály Varga (MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)
