A significant growth in nominal wages and the lower inflation contributed to the mitigation of the decline in real wages to the level of 2%

Average gross wages increased year-on-year in all 19 monitored sectors of the economy, but real wage growth was achieved in six of them. The sectors employing the most people in Slovakia, trade and industry, recorded slightly higher drops in real wages than the Slovak average.

In the 2^nd quarter of 2023, the average nominal monthly wage of an employee in the SR economy reached EUR 1 419 with a year-on-year growth by 9.9%. On a gross basis, employees received an average of EUR 128 more than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The rate of increase was the second fastest in fifteen years, yet wages still could not keep up with high inflation. However, the decline in real wages slowed significantly in the second quarter, currently decreasing by 2% year-on-year. The seasonally adjusted average wage increased by 2.5% compared to the 1^st quarter of 2023.

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Year-on-year growth in the average nominal wage in the second quarter of this year was recorded by all 19 monitored sectors of the economy. In almost a third of them, the growth was already sufficient to compensate for inflation, and the employees' real wages thus also increased. Wages for workers in real estate (by 15.4%), healthcare and social assistance (by 13.8%) and public administration (by 13.6%) rose relatively fastest. In total, 11 sectors achieved a higher growth by more than 10% compared to the 2^nd quarter of 2022.

Employees in accommodation and catering services, in information and communication, and above all in art, entertainment and recreation, felt the most significant drop in real wages, ranging from 3.6% to 4.8%.

Industry, as the largest employer, showed a year-on-year wage growth by 9.8% (to EUR 1 518) during the 2^nd quarter of 2023, but in real terms wages decreased by 2.1%. In the trade sector, which is the second largest employer in the SR, nominal wages increased by 9.1% (to EUR 1 356). The real decrease in wages of trade workers reached 2.8%, which was more than the average for the entire Slovak economy.

Currently, the highest average monthly wage, at the level of EUR 2.4 thousand and more, was in the financial and insurance activities, electricity, gas and steam supply and information and communication sectors. In eleven out of 19 sectors of the economy, the wage was lower than the average for the entire Slovak economy. The lowest average nominal wage, which did not even reach EUR 1 000, was recorded by employees in accommodation and catering services, other activities. Employees in the construction industry had the third lowest wage, but for the first time they reached just above the threshold of EUR 1 000.

From a territorial point of view, the average nominal monthly wage was higher than the average for the entire SR economy only in Bratislavský kraj (EUR 1 737). In the other regions, it ranged from EUR 1 080 in Prešovský kraj to EUR 1 339 in Košický kraj. In all regions, the average wage was higher than in the 2^nd quarter of 2022, with the highest relative increase by 11% in Nitriansky kraj. Real wages dropped the least in Nitriansky kraj (by 1.1%) and the most in Košický kraj (by 5.3%).

In the first half of 2023, the average nominal monthly wage of an employee in the SR economy reached EUR 1 373. It increased by 9.7% year-on-year, its growth rate accelerated by 2 p.p. compared to the corresponding period last year. The real wage decreased by 3.4%. One sector- construction - was able to withstand the pace of inflation, even if only minimally.