The average net wage in Romania rose 9.7% y\/y to RON 5,328 (EUR 1,070) in January, marking the slowest annual real growth rate (+4.7% y\/y) since May 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wages are expected to lose momentum through 2025, after the 4.4% and 7.7% advance, in real terms, during 2023 and 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s forecasting body expects a 1.6% y\/y real advance of the average net wage in 2025 to return just above 3% per year in the coming years. If the government sticks with plans to keep the wages in the public sector steady through 2025 (and cut some bonuses), this looks like a realistic forecast given companies\u2019 more cautious income policies ahead of economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n
In January, the average net wage was nominally 1.1% lower compared to November (before the year-end bonuses in December), with the salaries in public administration 0.5% lower. The average net wage in education decreased by 2.0% while that in the health sector increased by 2.6% compared to November, indicating that overall, the public sector payroll has not increased in the first month of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wages in the computer programming sector dropped by 7.9% compared to November and rose by only 2.2% y\/y (marking a real 3% y\/y decline) after the employees in the sector were waived by the preferential income tax regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In manufacturing, the average net wage dropped by 3.4% compared to November but marked an 11.4% (+6.4% y\/y in real terms) advance to RON 4,786 in January.<\/p>\n