Average wages have started to grow again faster than prices globally, according to a report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) published Thursday, which points to “strong” persistent wage inequalities.
According to this global wage report 2024-25, after falling by 0.9% in 2022, global real wage growth recovered in 2023, amid a gradual decline in inflation, “ showing an increase of 1.8%” (1.3% without China, which is experiencing a rapid rise in wages).
Preliminary data available for the first two quarters of 2024 show an increase of 2.7% this year (2.3% if we exclude China), “the largest increase recorded over the last 15 years », continues the ILO.
Wage growth was nevertheless uneven across regions, with emerging economies experiencing stronger growth than advanced economies, the ILO says.
In the advanced economies of the G20 – in the red in 2022 as in 2023 – growth thus became positive again to stand at 0.9% in 2024, while an increase of 5.9% was recorded in the emerging G20 economies (remained in the green in 2022 and 2023).
“The return to growth in real wages is a positive step forward,” welcomes the Director General of the ILO, Gilbert Houngbo, quoted in a press release. “However,” he adds, “we must not forget that millions of workers and their families continue to suffer from the cost of living crisis, which has eroded their standard of living, and that wage disparities between and within within countries remain unacceptable.
The report finds that since 2000, wage inequality, which compares the wages of high and low earners, has fallen in “around two-thirds of countries.” Depending on the measurement used, the decline is 0.5 to 1.7% per year. Despite this positive trend, “strong wage inequalities persist in countries around the world,” says the ILO.
The report shows that globally, “the lowest-paid 10% of workers earn just 0.5% of the global wage bill, while the highest-paid 10% earn nearly 38% of that wage bill.” .
