Average wages - 4. quarter of 2022

In the Q4 2022, the average gross monthly nominal wage per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee in the national economy increased by 7.9% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In real terms, it decreased by 6.7%. The median wage was CZK 37 463.

“Despite almost 8% growth of the nominal wage per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee the real wage in the Q4 2022 decreased after having taken inflation into account, namely for the fifth successive quarter, this time by 6.7%. In the whole year 2022, the inflation reached 15.1% and the nominal growth of wages was 6.5%. The wage thus decreased in real terms by 7.5%,” Jitka Erhartová, Head of the Labour Statistics Unit of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), comments.

In the Q4 2022, the average gross monthly nominal wage^*) (hereinafter only referred to as “the average wage”) per FTE employee in the national economy in total was CZK 43 412, which is by CZK 3 188 (7.9%) more than in the corresponding period of 2021. In the aforementioned period, consumer prices increased by 15.7%; the wage thus decreased by 6.7% in real terms. The volume of wages increased by 8.9%; the number of employees increased by 0.9%.

Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average wage increased by 2.1% in the Q4 2022.

According to the breakdown of economic activities (industries) by CZ-NACE section, the highest increase of the average wage compared to the corresponding period of 2021 was recorded in the following economic activities (CZ-NACE sections): ‘electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’ (14.6%), ‘other service activities’ (11.6%), and ‘financial and insurance activities’ (10.3%). A year-on-year decrease of wages by 0.3% occurred in ‘education’ and in ‘human health and social work activities’ the increase was only 4.5%.

The median wage (CZK 37 463) increased by 9.0% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The male median wage reached CZK 40 232 and the female one was CZK 34 554. Eighty per cent of employees earned wages within the interval from CZK 18 666 to CZK 70 514.

In 2022, the average wage reached CZK 40 353; in the year-on-year comparison, the increment was CZK 2 450 (6.5%). Consumer prices increased for the aforementioned period by 15.1%; the wage decreased by 7.5% in real terms.

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*) The average gross monthly wage is a share of wage funds (including extra pay for overtime work, bonuses, compensation of wages, etc.) per one employee per month. Therefore, it does not indicate what wage one specific employee has. The earnings structure statistics, in which data on earnings of individual employees are available, show that about two thirds of employees have a wage below the national average.
The median wage represents a value of an employee wage in the middle of the wage distribution. It means that one half of the value of wages is lower and the other one is higher than the median wage. Unlike the average wage, which is calculated based on background data from enterprise reports, the median has to be derived from a statistical-mathematical model based on a sample survey, because enterprise questionnaires (reports) only contain aggregated data for a whole enterprise or an organisation.
It has to be kept in mind that from the gross wages the employers pay appropriate amounts for health insurance and social security premiums and income tax advances of natural persons for their employees. The employees are paid net wages.