The gross monthly earnings per employee (per job) increased by 1.9% in the quarter ended in December 2021 (4th quarter), compared to the same period of 2020, to €1,507. Both the gross regular monthly earnings and the base earnings increased by 2.3%, reaching €1,103 and €1,036, respectively. In real terms, considering the Consumer Price Index, the relative changes of the gross total and regular monthly earnings decreased by 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively, while the base earnings remained unchanged. These data concern nearly 4.3 million of employees, from Social Security’s beneficiaries and from subscribers of Caixa Geral de Aposentações.

Compared to December 2020, the largest increases in gross total earnings were observed in the activities of Agriculture, farming of animals, hunting and forestry (section A; 8.0%), in enterprises of 1 to 4 employees (6.1%), in the private sector (2.8%), and in low-technology manufacturing industries (4.7%). The lowest changes in total earnings were observed in the activities of Transportation and storage (section H; -1.5%), in enterprises of 500 or more employees (-0.9%), in the Public Administrations sector (0.0%), and in the Market services (-1.2%).

In 2021, the gross monthly earnings per employee increased, compared to 2020, by 3.4%, to €1,361. The regular component increased by 3.1%, to €1,106, and the base monthly earnings increased by 3.0%, to €1,039. The real rate of change was lower than the nominal changes: 2.1%, 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively.