This is why the average wage in Poland bothers everyone

The Central Bureau of Statistics recently reportedThe average monthly salary in the enterprise sector in July 2022 increased by 15.8% year on year. The total amounted to 6,778.63 PLN, That is, taking into account the changes introduced by the Polish system, we get an average of 4950 PLN. This is the absolute record. However, the concept of an average wage still irritated the Poles.

“Where do they pay that?” – One of our readers with the pseudonym Polonia was baking under the text of the average salary in Poland. “It’s in Poland? The stats are the best after all! They add, translate, add and subtract. And it comes out as usual anyway. Where did this data come from? – He asks another. “Lie, big lies and statistics” – the reader comments under the pseudonym “It’s me.” How is it with this national average?

First, let’s clarify a few things. First, the monthly data on average wages in enterprises provided by the Central Statistical Office do not interest the entire market. Only applicable to companies employing more than 9 people. So they are small, medium and large companies.

The office does not include small entrepreneurs who employ up to 9 people, the vast majority of them are in our country. According to the data of the National Bank of Poland, there were 4.06 million such companies in our market at the end of 2016. Thus, they represented 95.7 percent. All local businesses. This is the first problem.

Furthermore, as economists at PKO BP calculate, The corporate sector comprises 6.5 million of the approximately 17 million workers in Poland (38%), There are over-represented “heavy” industrial sectors, Who received one-time bonuses in July. This is the second problem.

• In mining, wages rose by 81.6%. YoY vs 17.7% q/o in June,
• In the energy sector, it increased by 33.2 percent q/h compared to 15.1 percent q/h in June,
• in forests by 33.4 percent. o/o vs. 13.7% q/o in June.

What does it all mean? Well, dear reader, every time you read about the average salary in Poland, remember that We’re talking about GUS’s monthly statements, which is 38 percent. Employees work in a small part of the firms in the country, and the same result is exaggerated by excellent heavy industries, where wages are rising faster than anywhere else.

In addition to the monthly results on the “national average”, the Central Statistical Office also provides a quarterly average wage in the entire national economy, which also includes enterprises of up to 9 people (not included in the monthly analyses). as you guessed Results else.

A few weeks ago, we found out That the average salary in the national economy in the second quarter of 2022 amounted to 6,156 PLN (that is, about PLN 600 less than the average) and was 11.8 percent. higher than last year. This is a record increase, and the highest since 2000.

However – as economists from Santander Bank Polska note – after taking into account the price increase For the first time since 1995, our real wages (wages minus inflation) have fallen. The average pole is getting poorer these days. In addition, we do not know how these salaries are distributed. The Central Bureau of Statistics puts everyone in one bag. So again, the numbers are completely unreliable and hard to interpret. This is the third problem.

However, there is one way that better illustrates how much we actually earn. And, unfortunately, the conclusions that can be drawn from it are sadder than what you read every day.

Every two years in October, the Central Statistical Office conducts a comprehensive research on the salaries of Poles and publishes it in the report “Wage and Salary Structure by Occupation”. The problem is that it publishes the results of the analysis with a long delay (usually 1.5 years). The last available data was published in February 2022 and related to October 2020. In this case, we are checking the salaries of 8.2 million people, according to the Central Statistical Office, which is almost half of the workers in Poland.

what is important, Earlier, the office published the so-called dominant, that is, the most common salary in the country. He hasn’t done this for some time. As we found out, it concerns a systematic scandal in the media. A few years ago, a methodological committee met at the Central Statistical Office and decided not to show this indicator, because it “does more harm than good.”

However, the latest available data on the dominant car is very exciting. The 2018 Wage Structure Report indicates that the most frequent gross monthly gross wage received by employees of the national economy (more than 9 employees), It amounted to 2,379.66 zlotys, which is approximately 1,720 zlotys for each hand. Up to that amount of pay, they earned 13.2 percent. employees. In this group, men made up a slight advantage (53%), and the vast majority of them work in the private sector (93.5%). Four years later, this figure is certainly higher, but we will not learn about it from the studies of the Polish Statistical Office.

This means that half of the polled Poles (let’s remind you – about 50 percent of employees in the state) earn less than 3.4 thousand. PLN full time. The other half earns more than that amount.

At that time, not every tenth employee earned more than a total of 2,720 PLN And about 98 percent. This concerns people working in private companies. At the same time, 10 percent. High income earners in Poland earned a total salary of over 9,385 PLN.

In the period covered by the statistics, the total minimum wage was PLN 2,600. This threshold was not exceeded by about 8 percent. employee, almost any 642 you. People.

The next GUS survey on Poles’ salaries is scheduled for more than a month (October 2022), and the full results of these analyzes will probably not be known until February 2024.