Real income of workers is 5.8% below pre-pandemic levels

In August of this year, the average income of formal workers nationwide was S/2,816, which meant an increase of 15% compared to the year prepandemic when it stood at S/2,448. However, this value in real terms, that is, the purchasing power that a person has considering current inflation, reflects a drop of 5.8%, according to the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP).

In the public sector, the fall in real income in August was 1.1% compared to 2019, while in the private sector the contraction was 6.9% in the month of analysis. In detail, the average remuneration in this last segment is S/2,688; However, if the inflation rate is considered, the purchasing capacity of a person would be S/1,665.6 as of August, according to the calculation of the monetary entity.

Real income from economic activity

By productive sector, Electricity workers were the most affected at the end of August, since they registered an average income of S/5,324, which represents a 3% decline compared to 2019 (S/5,486). Likewise, in real terms it is lower, by 20.5%, compared to 3 years ago.

Meanwhile, the average real income in mining is 18.1% lower than before the pandemic. While in the commerce and construction sector they are 9.7% and 9.6% below the pandemic. In manufacturing and services the drop is 6.3% and 5%, respectively.

Only 2 items had a growth in their real income. Thus, the average remuneration of fishing workers (S/2,391) grew by 8.7% in real terms, while that of agricultural workers (S/1,546) increased by 6.7%.