The economic growth Iceland has been enjoying since 2012 continues to translate into higher living standards as wages continue to rise. The wage index calculated by Statistics Iceland has risen by 7.3% in the past 12 months. The real wage index, which takes inflation into account, has risen by 4.8%.
The wage index in January 2018 stood at 635.6 points, 0.4% higher than in the previous month. This is the largest month-over-month increase in the index since September. Wages increases have slowed down somewhat since the May-September last year, when the index saw a rapid increase.
Read more: Iceland had lowest income inequality in Europe in 2016
At the same time as wages have increased inflation has remained very limited. The 12 month inflation rate is 2.3%, according to the calcuations of Statistics Iceland. All of the increase is due to rising rent and housing prices. The consumer price index, without housing, decreased by 0.6% over the past 12 months.
The wage index is a price index based on data from the Icelandic survey on wages earnings and labour cost. The purpose of the index is to reflect changes in wages paid for fixed working hours. The index is based on earnings for contractual working hours and includes all wages paid for day time and fixed overtime hours, including additional payments and bonuses. Irregular payments and employers' social contributions and taxes are excluded.
The economic growth Iceland has been enjoying since 2012 continues to translate into higher living standards as wages continue to rise. The wage index calculated by Statistics Iceland has risen by 7.3% in the past 12 months. The real wage index, which takes inflation into account, has risen by 4.8%.
The wage index in January 2018 stood at 635.6 points, 0.4% higher than in the previous month. This is the largest month-over-month increase in the index since September. Wages increases have slowed down somewhat since the May-September last year, when the index saw a rapid increase.
Read more: Iceland had lowest income inequality in Europe in 2016
At the same time as wages have increased inflation has remained very limited. The 12 month inflation rate is 2.3%, according to the calcuations of Statistics Iceland. All of the increase is due to rising rent and housing prices. The consumer price index, without housing, decreased by 0.6% over the past 12 months.
The wage index is a price index based on data from the Icelandic survey on wages earnings and labour cost. The purpose of the index is to reflect changes in wages paid for fixed working hours. The index is based on earnings for contractual working hours and includes all wages paid for day time and fixed overtime hours, including additional payments and bonuses. Irregular payments and employers' social contributions and taxes are excluded.
