Press release, 22.03.2023.

The data category underlying earnings statistics is enlarged

Focus on data on the entire national economy

Concerning the dissemination of data on earnings statistics, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) will be focusing on the whole circle of employers from the reference month of January 2023. The release date of earnings data focusing on the national economy will be 28 March 2023, the publishing of the first release entitled Earnings for January 2023.

It is a high priority for HCSO that its statistics compile with user demands as far as possible. For this purpose, the Office continuously examines the possibility of expanding available data. Fulfilling this purpose, HCSO started to publish the monthly earnings data of full-time employees also for the whole circle of employees as additional information in 2022. From the reference month of January 2023 the whole circle of employers will be in the focus of earnings statistics. At the same time, the data of organisations employing at least 5 persons, which used to represent the primary indicator, will also remain available so that long time series comparison is also ensured.

From the reference month of January 2019, HCSO has been publishing the data on earnings statistics based on a new data source. The Office produces and publishes the monthly earnings and staff information based on the declarations of contributions received from the National Tax and Customs Administration and – concerning budgetary organisations belonging to the Centralised Payroll Accounting System - the data received from the Hungarian Treasury. From 28 March 2023 HCSO will publish the earnings data based on the whole circle of employers.

For several decades, the primary indicator of earnings statistics has been the average gross earnings of full-time employees at enterprises employing at least 5 persons, at budgetary institutions as well as at non-profit organisations that are significant in terms of employment. The narrowing of the scope of employers was justified by the maintenance of data suppliers’ burdens at a reasonable level with respect to the smallest enterprises. Since 2019 the most important professional and user aspect has been to ensure long time series comparison. By today, a long enough time series is also available for the whole circle of employers, so this circle can get into the focus of data communication.

There is no significant difference between the main indicators calculated for the two reference categories. A monthly difference of 2.6 and 3.5% (that is, 10 and 19 thousand forints) could be observed during the period from 2019 to 2022 concerning gross average earnings. As for the gross median earnings, the difference of the value calculated for the whole circle of employers ranged between 5.1 and 2.9% (that is, 9 and 20 thousand forints) compared to the data reported for the population of at least five persons. Relevant Stadat tables:
20.2.1.48. Main earnings data – full circle of employers, monthly, monthly cumulative and quarterly cumulative data and
20.2.1.49. Main earnings data – enterprises with at least 5 employees, budgetary institutions and non-profit organisations which are significant in respect of employment, monthly, monthly cumulative and quarterly cumulative data

HCSO believes that all users will be satisfied with the changes detailed above. All changes affecting our dissemination products will be published on 28 March, simultaneously with the publishing of first releases.

Hungarian Central Statistical Office

H-1024 Budapest, Keleti Károly u. 5-7. Phone: +36 (1) 345 6000
Postal address: P.O.B. 51 Budapest, H-1525
http://www.ksh.hu