“Consumer prices increased by 11.2 percent in this period, and therefore the wage fell in real terms, this time by 3.6 percent,” said Jitka Erhartová from the CZSO.
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At the same time, on average, people took in nominally 2,333 crowns more than a year ago.
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“Such a significantly real average wage has never fallen in the history of the Czech Republic. So far, it has decreased only in 1998 (by 1.4 percent), 2012 (by 0.8 percent), 2013 (by 1.5 percent) and in the pandemic year 2020 (by 0.1 percent). In all other years, the real average wage has been rising since 1993, ”said Lukáš Kovanda, Chief Economist at Trinity Bank.
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Due to high inflation, the pressure on employers to increase employees’ salaries is growing, but according to BHS chief economist Štěpán Křeček, this does not solve anything.
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“If the unions pushed the growth of employees’ income by the size of inflation, it would put another strong pressure on the growth of prices. This would in turn lead to additional demands on employee revenue growth and would not solve anything. It would only turn the inflation spiral, “said Křeček.
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Median almost 32 thousand CZK
The average wage is usually skewed and most people take less per month. More significant is the median wage, ie the mean value on a scale from the lowest to the highest wages. This was CZK 31,923 in the first quarter, an increase of 6.6 percent year on year.
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When divided by gender, the median was CZK 34,362 for men and CZK 29,262 for women. “Eighty percent of employees received wages between CZK 16,733 and CZK 60,467,” the CZSO added.
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The highest average wage is in Prague (CZK 48,498). It is almost 11,000 lower in the Central Bohemian Region (CZK 37,582), the third highest being in the South Moravian Region with CZK 37,171.
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According to statistics, wages in the financial and insurance sectors increased the most, by 15.9 percent. On the other hand, the lowest growth, at only 1.9 percent, was recorded in public administration and defense.
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