The average global actual wages decreased by 0.9% in the first half of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, which was associated with an increase in inflation that had begun in 2021 and continued in 2022. Excluding China, traditionally higher wages, the contraction was 1.4%.
The purchasing power of wages in the G20 countries, which include the 20 largest national economies of the world, decreased in the same way as the global average - by 0.9% in the 1st HY 2022. However, in the EU countries and the UK, it decreased by 2.2%, and in the EU without the UK - by 2.4%.
The largest annual growth in real wages in the 1st HY 2022 by regions was noted in Central and Western Asia, by 2.5%. Then comes the Asia-Pacific region - by 1.3% (however, when excluding China, the growth is only 0.7%). The positive figure was also noted in the Arab States - plus 1.2%.
Actual wages declined in other regions, and most of all in Eastern Europe - by 3.3%. Next comes North America, where inflation has affected the decrease in purchasing power, as well as the fact that low-paid workers have returned to the market after the pandemic - minus 3.2%. In Northern, Southern and Western Europe, the reduction in actual wages was primarily affected by rising inflation, where the purchasing power of wages fell by 1.9%. The decline in Latin America and the Caribbean was 1.7%, in Africa - 0.5%.
Photos: Courtesy forbes.kz, inform.kz
