Average wages - 1st quarter of 2019

In Q1 2019 the average gross monthly nominal wage per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee in the national economy increased by 7.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. In real terms it grew by 4.6%. The median wage was CZK 27 582.

In Q1 2019 the average gross monthly nominal wage¹⁾ (hereinafter only as ‘the average wage’) per FTE employee in the national economy was CZK 32 466, which was by CZK 2 236 (7.4%) more than in the same period of 2018. In the aforementioned period of 2019 consumer prices grew by 2.7% and thus wages increased by 4.6% in real terms. The wage volume grew by 8.3% and the number of employees increased by 0.8%.

Compared to the previous quarter, the seasonally adjusted average wage in Q1 2019 increased by 1.9%.

The median wage was CZK 27 582 and increased by 7.4 % compared to the same period of the previous year. The male median wage reached CZK 29 936 and the female one was CZK 24 982. Eighty per cent of employees earned wages within the interval from CZK 14 566 to CZK 51 420.

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¹⁾ The average gross monthly nominal wage is a share of wage funds (including extra pay for overtime work, bonuses, compensation of wages, etc.) for one employee per month. Therefore this does not indicate what wage one concrete employee has. The earnings structure statistics, in which data on earnings of respective employees are available, show that roughly two thirds of employees have the average wage below the national average.
The median wage represents a value of an employee wage in the middle of the wage distribution. That means one half of the wages is lower and the second half of the wages is higher than the median wage. Conversely to the average wage, which is calculated on the basis of background data from enterprise reports, the median must be derived from a statistical-mathematical model based on a sample survey, because enterprise questionnaires contain just aggregated data for the whole enterprise or organization.
It is necessary to keep in mind the employers pay, from the gross wages, appropriate amounts for premiums for health insurance and social security, income tax advances of natural persons, and other statutory deductions, or deductions agreed with the employee for their employees. The employees are paid net wages.

Notes:
The data are preliminary. Revised data will be available in September 2019.
Responsible head at the CZSO: D Holý, Director of the Labour Market and Equal Opportunities Statistics Department, phone +420 274 052 694, e-mail: dalibor.holy@czso.cz
Contact person: J Erhartová, Head of the Labour Statistics Unit, phone +420 274 052 116, e-mail: jitka.erhartova@czso.cz
Method of data acquisition: The direct survey and models of the CZSO, and the ISAE (Information System on Average Earnings) model
End of data processing: 21 May 2019
Related data set: 110024-19 Registered Number of Employees and Their Wages (First Quarter of 2019),
/current-product/41269
Next News Release will be published on: 3 September 2019

Attachments

⇩ apmz060419.docx
Annexes:
⇩ Table 1 Employees, average gross monthly wages by economic activity in Q1 2019 (absolute numbers, changes year-on-year)
⇩ Table 3 Employees, average gross monthly wages by territory of CZ-NUTS in Q1 2019 (absolute numbers, changes year-on-year)
⇩ Table 5 Median wages of average gross monthly wages by sex
⇩ Chart 1 Average gross monthly wages, quarterly data (absolute numbers, changes year-on-year)