Average Czech wages up 5% year-on-year, now over 34,000 crowns monthly

The average wage in the Czech Republic rose by 5% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to Q1 2019, and now stands at 34,077 crowns monthly, according to data released this morning by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).

Across the first quarter of this year, the average employee in the Czech Republic earned about 1,600 crowns more than they did in 2019.

Over the same period, consumer prices in the Czech Republic were up 3.6%, meaning the tangible increase in Czech salaries an employee might feel was about 1.4%.

Because the data only takes into account numbers through March, however, effects of the coronavirus pandemic on average salaries in the Czech Republic are yet to be seen. Data for Q2, which should be published by September, could paint a different picture.

With reports that a quarter of Czech companies have laid off employees due to the coronavirus crisis, the job market in the Czech Republic could look a lot different over the coming months.

Across the country, Prague saw the smallest percentage rise in average wages, up 3.1% over Q1 2019.

Still, the capital city led all Czech regions with an average wage of 42,760 crowns per month. The average monthly salary in Prague is more than 8,000 higher than that of the next-highest region, neighboring Středočeský kraj.

The lowest average wages in the Czech Republic were seen in the Pardubice region, at 30,349 crowns monthly, which still represented a 5.4% increase over Q1 2019.

By area, the Czech Information and communication industry led all Czech job sectors in average wages, at 63,521 crowns monthly. The Czech financial and insurance sector was close behind with an average salary of 60,595 crowns per month.

Accommodation and food service (20,316 crowns monthly), other service activities (24,492 crowns), and admin and support (24,080 crowns) were the lowest-paying employment sectors in the Czech Republic.

The average Czech salary data from the CZSO takes into account information for full-time employees or equivalents. There were more than 4.034 million registered employees in the Czech Republic in Q1 2020, about 35,000 less (-.9%) than the same period the previous year.

Prague, however, saw a boom in registered employees in Q1 2020, rising by nearly 20,000 (+2.3%), the only Czech region to see a year-on-year increase.

The above numbers showcase an average Czech salary that takes into account a wide variance in monthly income, including some professions that routinely average hundreds of thousands of Czech crowns every month.

Median salary numbers might give a more accurate representation of what the average Czech resident earns. The Czech median salary also rose by about 1,600 crowns year-on-year, and stood at 29,333 crowns in Q1 2020.

The median salary for men in the Czech Republic was 31,790 crowns per month in the first quarter of this year, while for women it was more than 5,000 crowns less at 26,723.