The average net wage in Romania increased by 14.1% y\/y to RON 4,973 (EUR 1,000) in Q1, after the earnings in March surprisingly exceeded those in December \u2013 seasonally boosted by yearend bonuses, according to data published by the statistics office INS.<\/p>\n
The higher net wages in March were in the tobacco processing industry (RON 13,250\/EUR 2,650 on average) after a +20.6% y\/y advance \u2013 the industry overthrowing the supremacy of the IT sector where the net wage returned to above-average growth (+16% y\/y to RON 12,653\/EUR 2,500) in the month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wages in education marked the steepest advance in March: +32% y\/y to RON 5,700 (EUR 1,140) after the government enforced the promised wage hikes.<\/p>\n
In real terms, the average net wage in Q1 increased by 6.5% y\/y \u2013 a growth rate still slower compared to the +8.6% y\/y real increase reported in Q4 last year but higher than the average +4.4% y\/y real advance of the average net salary in 2023.<\/p>\n
In euros, the net average wage increased by +12.8% y\/y in Q1 this year, down from higher rates in 2023: 14.7% in Q4, 14.1% in Q3, 15.4% in Q2 and 15.8% in Q1 (with an average of 15.0% y\/y in full year).<\/p>\n