The world is getting a pay rise: Global salaries edge up by 2.5% lifted by Asian surge
Wages in Asia will see the biggest surge in 2016 as the whole world is expected to get a pay rise. Advisory firm Korn Ferry Hay Group forecasts in its salary report that average pay is set to rise by 2.5% in 2016.
The global salary increase is the biggest since 2013 and takes in account low inflation. In Vietnam, a wage hike of more than 7% is expected on average, leading the world, with Asia overall seeing the highest increases.
UK workers are expected to get a 2.3% real pay rise as employers have to pay the new living wage from 1 January 2016.
China and the Dominic Republic follow Vietnam, while Venezuela is the heavyweight dragging down the global average with a huge drop of over 50% in real wages. In Europe, wages are set to increase 2.8%, but real wages will only rise by 2.3% because of 0.5% inflation.
"Asia continues to drive growth in wages globally as companies look set to increase wages," Hay Group executive Philip Spriet said. "However, the global labour market is in flux as the ageing workforce in advanced economies begins to take hold."
Despite the growth slowdown in emerging economies, many of which are Asian, the biggest surge is still there. However, inflation plays a major role. The BRIC countries are clearly divided, erasing any significant pattern for emerging countries.
Although both China and India's average wages are set to increase, Brazilian and Russian wages are among those experiencing the biggest downturn. Especially in Russia, this is linked to high inflation.
"In emerging economies, upskilling workers is crucial for companies to maintain competitive advantage and those skilled employees can expect to see wages rise as talent shortages in certain regions drives salaries up," Spriet said.
Argentina's salaries are expected to rise by 31%, but people will not be able to buy much more as inflation will increase by 27%. In both Venezuela and Ukraine, the heavy inflation plays a very significant part in offsetting the real wage increase.
Below are the countries and their perspective salary movement listed, based on data provided by Korn Ferry Hay Group.
| Region | Country | 2016 Salary Forecast | 2016 inflation forecast<sup><sup> | 'Real' increase | 2015 Salary Forecast |
| Africa | Algeria | 6.0% | 5.1% | 0.9% | 6.6% |
| Latin America | Argentina | 31.0% | 27.4% | 3.6% | 32.5% |
| Pacific | Australia | 2.5% | 1.9% | 0.6% | 3.0% |
| Europe | Austria | 3.0% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 2.7% |
| Middle East | Bahrain | 4.5% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 5.0% |
| Europe | Belgium | 1.7% | 0.5% | 1.2% | 2.0% |
| Africa | Botswana | 6.0% | 3.2% | 2.8% | n/a |
| Latin America | Brazil | 7.7% | 8.9% | -1.2% | 6.1% |
| Europe | Bulgaria | 4.0% | 0.1% | 3.9% | 4.2% |
| North America | Canada | 2.6% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 2.6% |
| Latin America | Chile | 5.0% | 4.4% | 0.6% | 5.0% |
| Asia | China | 8.0% | 1.7% | 6.3% | 8.0% |
| Latin America | Colombia | 4.7% | 4.4% | 0.3% | 3.5% |
| Latin America | Costa Rica | 5.5% | 1.4% | 4.1% | 6.0% |
| Europe | Cyprus | 1.8% | -0.5% | 2.3% | 0.0% |
| Europe | Czech Republic | 2.0% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 2.0% |
| Europe | Denmark | 2.2% | 0.6% | 1.6% | 2.5% |
| Latin America | Dominican Republic | 6.2% | 0.8% | 5.4% | 6.0% |
| Latin America | Ecuador | 5.3% | 4.2% | 1.1% | n/a |
| Africa | Egypt | 10.0% | 10.4% | -0.4% | 10.0% |
| Latin America | El Salvador | 3.9% | 0.2% | 3.7% | 4.1% |
| Europe | Estonia | 3.0% | 0.1% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| Europe | Finland | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| Europe | France | 1.9% | 0.2% | 1.7% | 2.0% |
| Europe | Germany | 2.9% | 0.2% | 2.7% | 2.8% |
| Europe | Greece | 2.0% | -1.4% | 3.4% | 1.3% |
| Latin America | Guatemala | 5.1% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 5.4% |
| Latin America | Honduras | 6.4% | 4.2% | 2.2% | 5.5% |
| Asia | Hong Kong | 4.5% | 3.1% | 1.4% | 4.0% |
| Europe | Hungary | 3.0% | 0.6% | 2.4% | 3.0% |
| Asia | India | 10.3% | 5.6% | 4.7% | 10.5% |
| Asia | Indonesia | 9.1% | 6.7% | 2.4% | 10.0% |
| Europe | Ireland | 2.0% | -0.2% | 2.2% | 1.4% |
| Europe | Italy | 2.5% | 0.4% | 2.1% | 2.7% |
| Asia | Japan | 2.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 2.0% |
| Middle East | Jordan | 5.0% | -0.3% | 5.3% | 6.0% |
| Europe | Kazakhstan | 7.4% | 5.8% | 1.6% | 7.8% |
| Asia | Korea | 5.0% | 0.7% | 4.3% | 5.0% |
| Middle East | Kuwait | 5.0% | 3.4% | 1.6% | 5.0% |
| Europe | Latvia | 3.7% | 0.7% | 3.0% | 2.4% |
| Middle East | Lebanon | 9.3% | -2.2% | 11.5% | 6.7% |
| Europe | Lithuania | 4.0% | -1.0% | 5.0% | 3.3% |
| Europe | Luxembourg | 2.9% | 0.1% | 2.8% | 3.2% |
| Asia | Malaysia | 6.0% | 2.1% | 3.9% | 6.4% |
| Latin America | Mexico | 4.6% | 2.7% | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| Africa | Morocco | 3.6% | 1.5% | 2.1% | 4.5% |
| Europe | Netherlands | 2.5% | 0.3% | 2.2% | 2.3% |
| Pacific | New Zealand | 3.0% | 0.7% | 2.3% | 3.0% |
| Latin America | Nicaragua | 6.0% | 4.4% | 1.6% | 6.1% |
| Europe | Norway | 2.6% | 1.7% | 0.9% | 3.2% |
| Middle East | Oman | 4.0% | 0.9% | 3.1% | 5.5% |
| Latin America | Panama | 4.9% | 0.7% | 4.2% | 5.4% |
| Latin America | Peru | 5.0% | 3.6% | 1.4% | 5.5% |
| Asia | Philippines | 7.0% | 1.8% | 5.2% | 7.5% |
| Europe | Poland | 2.6% | -0.8% | 3.4% | 3.0% |
| Europe | Portugal | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.0% |
| Middle East | Qatar | 5.0% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 5.0% |
| Europe | Romania | 4.8% | -0.6% | 5.4% | 4.6% |
| Europe | Russian Federation | 7.0% | 14.5% | -7.5% | 6.8% |
| Middle East | Saudi Arabia | 5.0% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 5.0% |
| Asia | Singapore | 4.0% | 0.3% | 3.7% | 4.4% |
| Europe | Slovakia | 2.5% | -0.3% | 2.8% | 2.0% |
| Africa | South Africa | 6.9% | 4.8% | 2.1% | 6.2% |
| Europe | Spain | 1.8% | -0.4% | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| Europe | Sweden | 2.4% | 0.1% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| Europe | Switzerland | 1.4% | -1.1% | 2.5% | 1.4% |
| Asia | Thailand | 6.0% | -0.1% | 6.1% | 6.0% |
| Africa | Tunisia | 6.8% | 4.9% | 1.9% | 7.0% |
| Europe | Turkey | 8.0% | 7.4% | 0.6% | 9.0% |
| Europe | Ukraine | 11.5% | 48.3% | -36.8% | 6.8% |
| Middle East | United Arab Emirates | 5.0% | 4.1% | 0.9% | 5.0% |
| Europe | United Kingdom | 2.5% | 0.2% | 2.3% | 2.5% |
| North America | United States of America | 3.0% | 0.3% | 2.7% | 3.0% |
| Latin America | Venezuela | 70.0% | 122.6% | -52.6% | 40.3% |
| Asia | Vietnam | 8.6% | 1.3% | 7.3% | 11.4% |
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