Average wage per worker decreases by 0.6% in real terms in the first quarter of 2023

The average total monthly gross salary in Portugal decreased by 0.6% in real terms in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2022, with real wage growth recorded only in the private sector, INE said this Thursday.

“In real terms, taking as a basis the change in the consumer price index, the total average monthly gross salary decreased by 0.6%, as well as its regular component. [que exclui subsídios de férias e Natal, sendo, portanto, menos sazonal]and the base component decreased by 0.4%, ”according to the data of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

These results cover 4.5 million jobs corresponding to social security recipients and subscribers of the Caixa Geral de Aposentação, up 4.2% from the same period in 2022.

From January to March, year-on-year, the total average monthly gross salary per employee (per job) increased by 7.4% to €1,355, with regular and base parts of this salary increasing by 7.3% and 7.6%, amounting to 1211 euros. euros and 1138 euros respectively.

However, after adjusting for inflation as measured by the change in the consumer price index (CPI), which was 8.0% in the quarter ended March 2023, total, regular and basic remuneration recorded a real year-on-year decrease of 0.6%, respectively. . %, 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

In relation to March 2022, INE indicates that the largest increase in the total average monthly gross salary was observed in “the activities of international organizations and other extraterritorial institutions”, in companies with one to four employees (8.6%), in the private sector (8.3 %) and in companies of “knowledge-intensive market services” (10.5%).

“There were no negative changes in the overall average monthly gross salary, while the smallest changes on an annualized basis are observed in the activities of “Public Administration and Defense; compulsory social insurance” (3.6%), in companies with 250 to 499 employees. (4.4%), in the general management sector (5.4%) and in companies providing “knowledge-intensive financial services” (4.2%).

According to INE, in the first quarter, the total remuneration ranged from 857 euros in the activities “agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, forestry and fishing” to 3064 euros in the activities “electricity, gas, steam, hot and cold water and cold air”, and these sections also record the lowest and highest regular and base wages.

During the analyzed period, the total remuneration of civil servants (AP) increased by 5.4%, from 1676 euros in March 2022 to 1765 euros a year later, while the regular component increased by 5.0% to 1670 euros, and the base salary increased. 5.4% up to 1579 euros.

However, taking into account the impact of inflation in real terms, the total, regular and base wages in the AP decreased by 2.5%, 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively.

In the private sector, INE notes that “remuneration has increased more significantly: total remuneration for the year has changed by 8.3%, from €1,176 in March 2022 to €1,274 a year later.”

Here, the regular part increased by 8.5%, to 1,119 euros, while the base remuneration increased by 8.8%, to 1,051 euros.

“In this sector, real annual growth was observed for three types of remuneration: 0.3% in general, 0.5% in ordinary and 0.7% in basic,” the Statistical Institute emphasizes.

According to INE’s analysis, differences in the level of average wages between the PA sector and the private sector “reflect, among other things, differences in the type of work performed and the skills of workers that unite them.”

“In fact, it turns out that workers in the OT sector, on average, have a higher level of education: 55.2% of workers in this sector had higher education (22.7% in the private sector), 26.6% had completed secondary or post-secondary education. education (32.4% in the private sector) and 18.3% had a level of education corresponding to the 3rd cycle of basic education at the most (44.9% in the private sector).”