Moquegua: the region where the best salaries are paid

Moquegua is one of the smallest regions of Peru. However, in this territory of less than 4,000 square kilometers, with burning sun and good avocados, the best salaries in the country are paid in the formal private sector.

An investigation of weekly meeting, from the San Pablo de Arequipa Catholic University, determined that payroll workers in this region have an average remuneration of S/3,342. This number far exceeds the national average. According to Videnza Consultores, the national average amounts to S/2,583.

The Encuentro professional, César Ventura, maintains that the data was obtained by reviewing the electronic spreadsheets that companies report to the Ministry of Labor. The study focused on Moquegua, Apurímac, Cusco, Tacna, Arequipa and Puno. Moquegua has an important advantage over the five regions that also carry out extractive activities. Even its neighbor Arequipa, the so-called “second city of the country” and converted into the articulating axis of southern Peru. The average salary in the mistiana region totals S/2,443 (see infographic). The Gross Domestic Product of Moquegua is essentially concentrated in mining, agriculture, services and fishing.

Quellaveco Mine: Anglo American entered the top 5 of the 2022 Merco Sustainability Ranking. Photo: diffusion

However, the extractive activity of copper has become its main engine. According to the economist Mónica Muñoz Nájar, the small region of the country experienced 42.8% in the growth of its GDP. This is attributed to the production of quallavecothe new copper mine of the multinational Anglo American.

In its territory, located between the coastal desert and the Andes mountain range, Southern also exploits the Cuajone deposit.

The former Minister of Economy and Finance and director of Videnza Consultores, Luis Miguel Castile, has no hesitation in saying that these salaries are influenced by mining activity. He affirms that when large projects are built (by Quellaveco) per capita income increases and affects the remunerative quality. When the project goes into production, that labor force decreases and there are few “privileged” ones who enjoy that salary level. This is confirmed with the data from Videnza: this year, Moquegua registered the largest contraction with 3,543 fewer formal jobs. It is challenging to maintain this investment dynamic and complicated by how things are going in the country, Castilla added.

The economist Manuel Bedregal agreed with Castilla, as he specified that mining has created competitive salaries and that also affects other sectors: food services, transport, construction, etc.

To this is added that moquegua It is the region that congregates the smallest population in the south of the country. Large-scale investments have a greater impact, Bedregal remarked.

The figures are based only on formal workers, which in Peru represents less than 25%. The bulk is in the informality. Huancavelica (94.7%), Puno (90.5%), Apurímac (90.3%), Huánuco (90.0%) and San Martín (89.4%) are the regions that report the highest rates.

Labor is concentrated in the informal

The regions with the worst salary averages have high rates of informality. The coordinator of Projects and Public Policies for Networks, Mónica Muñoz Nájar, explained that in Puno the informality is 90.2%. Hence, the population with formal employment are few, barely 10%. That happens with Apurímac, which has the best salaries in the country, but the level of informality exceeds 90%. Lima concentrates 55% of formal employment, with 2.2 million formal workers.

The data

In red. Except for Moquegua, productive activity fell in 17 regions. In total, 14 of them reported negative rates compared to the national average, mainly Apurímac (-11.6%), Pasco (-10.3%) and Puno (-9.6%). This is explained by the low contributions in the mining, construction and agricultural sectors.