Wage and salary earners’ earnings for regular working hours rose by 2.4 percent in July-September

According to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data, the index of wage and salary earnings, which measures the rise in the nominal earnings of full-time wage and salary earners, rose by 2.4 per cent in July to September 2021 when compared with the respective period in 2020. Real earnings rose by 0.2 per cent compared to the third quarter of the previous year. Due to the accelerated rise in consumer prices, the growth in real earnings has slowed down in 2021.

Index of wage and salary earnings and real earnings 2000/1 to 2021/3, annual change percentage

According to Statistics Finland’s preliminary data, the nominal earnings of full-time wage and salary earners rose from July to September 2020 to the corresponding period in 2021 by 2.3 per cent in the private sector, by 2.7 per cent in the central government sector and by 2.5 per cent in the local government sector.

The index of regular earnings increased by 2.4 per cent in July to September

The index for regular earnings describes the permanent change in earnings better than the index of wage and salary earnings because it does not take into account performance-based bonuses and non-recurring items included in collective agreements. The index of regular earnings of full-time wage and salary earners rose by 2.4 per cent in July to September 2021 when compared with the respective period in 2020. The growth amounted to 2.3 per cent in the private sector, to 2.7 per cent in the central government sector, and to 2.5 per cent in the local government sector.

The indices for 2021 are based on the effects of agreements and the wage drift

The indices of wage and salary earnings and the indices for regular earnings are final until 2020. They are based on the realised earnings development. The indices for 2021 are preliminary and they are based on estimates of agreement effects and the wage drift. In addition, the data on performance-based bonuses of the Labour Cost Index are used to assess performance-based bonuses in the calculation of the preliminary indices of the index of wage and salary earnings.

The figure examines the development of the index of wage and salary earnings in 2015 to 2021. The examination includes the local government sector, central government sector and private sector, and ends in the latest published quarter, that is, the third quarter of 2021.

Index of wage and salary earnings 2015=100

Local government sector wages and salaries were raised by a general increase and a local item in April 2021. For this reason the index of wage and salary earnings in the local government sector started to rise clearly in the second quarter of 2021, and the rise evened out at the onset of the third quarter. In central government, the local item was paid in May and the general increase in June. The rise in the index of wage and salary earnings in central government was divided more evenly between the second and third quarters of 2021 because contractual pay increases were paid in the later months of the second quarter.

In the private sector, contractual pay increases have been scheduled for all quarters of the current year, which is visible as a steady rise in the index of wage and salary earnings in the private sector starting from the early part of the year.

Source: Index of wage and salary earnings 2021, 3rd quarter. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Anu Uuttu 029 551 2322, Harri Nummila 029 551 3235, palkat.indeksit@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Revisions in these statistics (15.10.2021)

Updated 15.10.2021

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Index of wage and salary earnings [e-publication].
ISSN=1798-7814. 3rd quarter 2021. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ati/2021/03/ati_2021_03_2021-10-15_tie_001_en.html