Total average monthly gross earnings per employee in Portugal grew by 3.6% last year, compared to the previous year, reaching 1,411 euros. However, in real terms — that is, if the impact of inflation is taken into account —, the average salary in 2022 shrank by 4%, according to a report by ECO.

Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) takes into account 4.5 million jobs, corresponding to Social Security beneficiaries and Caixa Geral de Aposentação subscribers. For comparison, in 2021, the average salary had grown by 3.5% in nominal terms and 2.2% in real terms. Furthermore, since the INE series began in 2015, there has never been a real drop in average monthly wages for a given year.

When broken down by components, in the full year of 2022, the regular remuneration component (which includes food allowance and bonuses, for example, but excludes holiday and Christmas allowances) rose 3.1%, to 1,140 euros, in nominal terms. The base component rose 3% to 1,070 euros.

Despite the loss of purchasing power of the average wage, the data indicate that wages grew throughout 2022. Observing only the fourth quarter, which ended in December, the total monthly average gross wage per worker also increased in year-on-year terms, with an increase of 4.2%, and reached 1,575 euros, higher than the average salary for the whole year. Again, inflation deteriorated workers' purchasing power, with average wages in the fourth quarter shrinking by 5.2%, calculates INE.


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