Global wages register 2 percent growth in 2013: ILO

Geneva, Dec 5 (EFE) Global wages grew by 2 percent in 2013, 1 percent less than the years preceding the economic crisis, according to an International Labour Organization (ILO) global salary report published Friday.

Wage growth suffered a drastic fall during the crisis in 2008 and 2009, recovered to a certain extent in 2010 and later went through another deceleration, the report said.

Average wage growth in 2013 is less than the 2.2 percent in 2012, and about 3 percent recorded in 2006 and 2007.

China accounted for a great part of the growth registered in 2013, owing to its size and the remarkable wage growth in the country.

If China were to be left out of the equation, the figures would see a sharp decline from 2 percent to 1.1 percent.

The modest global wage growth was mainly driven by emerging economies, where wages grew by 6.7 percent in 2012 and by 5.9 percent in 2013.

Meanwhile, the wages in developed economies fluctuated around an annual increase of 1 percent from 2006 onwards, slowly decelerating to reach just 0.1 percent in 2012 and 0.2 percent in 2013.

Despite the healthy growth recorded in developing countries, the report -- based on data from 185 countries -- reveals wide differences between different regions.

For example, in 2013 wages grew by 6 percent in Asia, and by 5.8 percent in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but only by 0.8 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Wage growth in Latin America was 2.3 percent in 2012.

Wages and salaries are the chief source of income of people in developed, developing and emerging countries, especially among medium-income groups.

People in the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent in terms of earnings depend on more sources of income.

In developing countries, where self-employed work is more common, the contribution of wages in the family income is much lower, oscillating between about 50 and 60 percent in Mexico, the Russian Federation, Argentina, Brazil and Chile; about 40 percent in Peru; and about 30 percent in Vietnam.

The report also reveals a wide disparity in the average salaries in developed and emerging nations.

The average monthly salary in developed nations was estimated to be around $3,000 and around $1,000 in developing nations.

--IANS/EFE

ab/bg