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Published: 21 November 2008

Age affects earnings the most in central government

According to Statistics Finland's Structure of Earnings statistics, when comparing the total earnings of full-time wage and salary earners in different employer sectors in 2007, increasing age pushes the level of earnings up the most for the wage and salary earners employed by central government. The level of earnings rises until retirement age also among wage and salary earners in the local government sector, whereas in the private sector wage and salary earners' earnings start to decline after reaching the age of 50.

The increase in earnings related to age and work experience is, in general, the more marked the more education the tasks require. For example, the earnings of legislators, senior officials and managers increase until they turn 50 and those of professional, technicians and associate professionals increase until they reach retirement age, whereas the earnings of persons engaged in tasks that require a shorter education remain roughly unchanged after the age of 35.

The average monthly earnings of all full-time wage and salary earners amounted to EUR 2,734 in the last quarter of 2007. The average earnings of wage and salary earners in central government amounted to EUR 2,984, in the private sector to EUR 2,749 and in the local government sector to EUR 2,513. These differences in earnings result from, i.a., structural differences related to wage and salary earners and tasks in different employer sectors.

These data derive from Statistics Finland's Structure of Earnings statistics, which cover all employer sectors. Monthly earnings for total hours worked are only calculated for full-time wage and salary earners. Besides earnings for regular working hours, the earnings also include pay for any possible overtime and working hour supplements but not one-off performance-based bonuses.

Average monthly earnings of full-time wage and salary earners by major group of the Classification of Occupations and employer sector in 2007

Classification of Occupations	Average total earnings, EUR / month
	Total	Private sector	Local government	Central government
Total	2,734	2,794	2,513	2,984
0. Armed forces	3,559	-	-	3,559
1. Legislators, senior officials and managers	4,788	5,030	3,947	4,741
2. Professionals	3,501	3,770	3,272	3,304
3. Technicians and associate professionals	2,776	2,944	2,367	2,586
4. Clerks	2,275	2,362	2,001	2,136
5. Service and care workers, and shop and market sales workers	2,048	2,006	2,035	2,631
6. Skilled agricultural and fishery workers	1,948	1,847	1,966	2,188
7. Craft and related trades workers	2,532	2,547	2,266	2,394
8. Plant and machine operators and assemblers	2,524	2,532	2,246	2,323
9. Elementary occupations	1,978	2,035	1,867	1,993
Unknown	2,611	2,615	2,459	2,380

Average monthly earnings of full-time wage and salary earners by employer sector and age group in 2007

Average monthly earnings of full-time wage and salary earners by major group of the Classification of Occupations and age group in 2007

Source: Structure of Earnings 2007. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Mr Antti Katainen +358 9 1734 2347, Mr Jussi Ritola +358 9 1734 2580, palkkarakenne@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mr Kari Molnar

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Last updated 21.11.2008