Real wages within the national economy once again increased by an outstanding amount, by 7.5 percent, from January-April 2016, according to the quick report published this morning by the Central Statistical Office (KSH). Hungarian reforms are working, as also indicated by the fact that real wages in Hungary have been increasingly continuously for 40 months in succession.

The private sector (at enterprises that employ at least 5 people) achieved a record 77 thousand increase in employment compared to April 2015.

During the first four months of 2016, at a national economy level, the average gross income was 256,500 forints and the net income (calculated without family benefits) was 170,600 forints. Taking into account family benefits the KSH estimates the average net income to be 177,700 forints. Not including the effects of the public work programme, the gross average incomes for enterprises, budgetary institutions and non-profit organisations during the first three months of the year were 274,100, 263,500 and 244,000 forints, respectively.

Accordingly, at a national economy level and including the effects of the public work programme real wages increased by 7.5 percent during this period, while without its effects the increase was 8.1 percent. The average January-April increase in real wages filtered to exclude the public work programme was outstanding in all three sectors, equalling 6.6 percent in the private sector, 12.2 percent within the budgetary sector and 7.6 percent in the non-profit sector.

Thanks to the continuous expansion of the Hungarian economy, the pay increases in the private and public sectors, low inflation, tax decreases and the Workplace Protection Scheme, real wages in Hungary are increasingly continuously. In turn, the positive economic figures and forecasts clearly indicate that Hungarian reforms are working.

(Ministry for National Economy)