The source of data is the monthly institutional labour data collection system. As of 2019, monthly data concerning the number of employees and gross wages are taken over from the social security reports provided by the National Tax and Customs Administration, while for budgetary institutions statistics are produced from the data of the central payroll system provided by the Hungarian State Treasury as previously.
From January 2023, the scope of reference of data, unless otherwise stated, includes the whole circle of employers (that is, the whole circle of enterprises employing employees, non-profit organisations and budgetary institutions). Until December 2022, the traditional scope of reference for HCSO’s dissemination of data on earnings statistics included enterprises employing at least 5 persons, all budgetary institutions as well as non-profit organisations that are significant in terms of employment; we replaced the data for the period 2019-2022 with the new, wider scope of reference on 28 March 2023.
Gross earnings (as defined by the HCSO) is the total of all earnings: basic wages and other wage elements paid under different titles to employees (wage supplements, bonuses, premiums, 13th month salary). Basic wages include personal income tax, health insurance, pension and labour market contributions (as of July 2020 together social security contribution). (See statistical documentation.)
Regular gross earnings (as defined by the HCSO) is the difference of gross earnings and non-regular earnings elements such as premiums, 13th month salary and bonuses. As of 2019, monthly regular earnings are partly calculated by statistical estimation. (See statistical documentation.)
Net earnings (without tax benefits) derive from gross earnings by subtracting personal income tax, health insurance, pension and labour market contributions (as of July 2020 together social security contribution). Unless there is a separate reference to it, the calculation of net earnings without tax benefits does not take into account tax and social security benefits and allowances.
Net earnings (with tax benefits) derive from gross earnings by subtracting personal income tax, health insurance, pension and labour market contributions (as of July 2020 together social security contribution) and adding tax and social security benefits and allowances. The calculation of net earnings with tax benefits is made possible by the introduction of new administrative data sources into earnings statistics in 2019.
Average earning is the ratio of nominal gross earnings and the number of employees in a given staff category. Monthly and cumulative data published in the First releases refer to persons employed full-time.
Median earnings: is the middle value that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount in a given staff group. Reported data refer to monthly averages (including data for cumulative periods) and full time employees unless otherwise noted. For cumulative periods monthly earnings are not aggregated at the level of jobs or persons before calculatjng the median value.
Real earnings: the ratio of growth in net earnings and the consumer price index.
Traditionally, HCSO has published the major index number to show the rate of change in average earnings. The rate of change reflects the change in nominal earnings between two time periods as well as the shift in employment by staff category.
Due to changes in the sources of data, the comparability over time in certain cases and breakdowns is limited. Methodological differences owing to the newly introduced data sources are described in details in the statistical documentation. The description of methodological differences originating from the newly introduced data source use is available in the documentations on specialised statistics. As of January 2019, year on year indices are published using an estimation that filters out the impact of methodological changes. Therefore, published indices may differ from data calculated from the previously published statistics.