Lisbon, May 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The average gross monthly remuneration per worker (per job) in Portugal increased by 5.3% to €1,525 in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, but in real terms the increase was 2.9%, the INE announced on Friday.
According to Statistics Portugal (INE), in March, the average gross monthly remuneration - which excludes salary components such as holiday and Christmas bonuses, and is therefore less seasonal - was €1,356, representing a nominal year-on-year increase of 5.4% and a real increase (taking inflation into account) of 3.1%.
The average gross monthly basic remuneration per employee stood at €1,270, representing a nominal increase of 5.1% and a real increase of 2.8%.
These results cover 4.7 million jobs, corresponding to Social Security beneficiaries and subscribers to the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (Civil Servants Pension Fund), 2.3% more than in the same period of 2024.
According to INE, compared to March 2024, the average total gross monthly remuneration increased in all areas analysed: economic activity, company size, institutional sector, technological intensity and knowledge intensity.
The largest increases were recorded in "agriculture, animal production, hunting, forestry and fishing" (7.9%), in companies with one to four employees (6.5%), in the public sector (6.3%) and in "high industrial technology" companies (6.8%).
In March, the average gross remuneration per employee ranged from €970 in "agriculture, animal production, hunting, forestry and fishing" to €3,066 in "electricity, gas, steam, hot and cold water and cold air".
Regular remuneration and basic remuneration also recorded their lowest values in "agriculture, animal production, hunting, forestry and fishing" (€878 and €858, respectively) and the highest in "electricity, gas, steam, hot and cold water and cold air" (€2,804 and €2,573).
By company size, the average total remuneration ranged from €1,066 in companies with one to four employees to €1,820 in companies with 500 or more employees.
In an analysis by institutional sector, in public administration (PA), the average total remuneration per employee increased by 6.3% year-on-year to €2,021 (€1,902 a year earlier), while the regular component increased by the same 6.3% (from €1,793 to €1,906) and the variable component increased by 6.3% (from €1,021 to €1,021).021 (€1,902 a year earlier), while the regular component increased by the same 6.3% (from €1,793 to €1,906) and basic remuneration rose by 4.8% (from €1,683 to €1,764).
In real and year-on-year terms, total, regular and basic remuneration in the public administration increased by 3.9%, 4.0% and 2.5%, respectively.
In the private sector, which accounts for 84.0% of the economy's employees, total remuneration increased by 5.1% year over year (from €1,361 in March 2024 to €1,431 a year later). The regular and basic components both increased by 5.3%, in the first case from €1,189 to €1,252 and in the second from €1,117 to €1,176.
In the private sector, real year-on-year increases were 2.8% in total remuneration and 3.0% in regular and basic remuneration.
According to the INE, the differences in average remuneration levels between the public administration sector and the private sector "reflect, among other things, differences in the type of work performed, age composition (with an impact on the accumulation of human capital and professional experience) and the qualifications of the workers who make up these sectors.
"It can be seen that workers in the public administration sector have, on average, higher levels of education: 55.9% of workers in this sector had higher education (25.9% in the private sector), 27.2% had completed secondary or post-secondary education (35.0% in the private sector) and 16.9% had a level of education corresponding to, at most, the 3rd cycle of basic education (39.1% in the private sector)," it states.
PD/ADB // ADB.
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