Ukraine real wages decelerate to 12.3% yoy growth in January

Real wages in Ukraine grew 12.3% yoy in January after
18.9% yoy growth in the prior month, the State Statistics Service reported on
Feb. 28. The average monthly nominal wage decreased to UAH 7,771 (USD 271) from
UAH 8,777 in December, when wages traditionally swell due to the payments of
various year-end bonuses and compensations.

Geographically, the highest January average wages were
in the city of Kyiv (UAH 11,668), the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region (UAH
8,389) and the Kyiv region (UAH 7,839). The lowest were paid in the
agricultural regions of Ternopil (UAH 5,865), Chernivtsi (UAH 5,914) and
Kherson (UAH 6,063).

The largest wage growth was in hotel services and
catering (46% yoy), education (46% yoy) and real estate services (37%). Within
the industrial sector, the highest nominal wages are in pharmaceuticals (UAH
15,435), utilities (UAH 10,686), and mining (UAH 9,685).

Evgeniya Akhtyrko: The further
slowdown in real wages was expected in light of the high comparative base of
the previous year (21.4% yoy in real wage growth in Jan. 2017) and high inflation.

The high comparative base of 2017, coupled with a
high inflation projected this year, will restrain the growth of wages in real
terms in 2019 even despite the projected economic growth. We expect real wage
growth will decelerate to 9-10% in 2018.