Wage evolution

The Swiss wage index is an annual indicator of gross wage growth, including the 13th monthly salary. Since 2011, the indices and variations have been broken down by economic activity according to the General Classification of Economic Activities 2008 (NOGA08 / NACE08) and by sex.

Wage growth in 2019

Increase of 0.9% in nominal wages in 2019 and of 0.5% in real wages

The Swiss nominal wage index rose by 0.9% on average in 2019 compared with 2018. It settled at 102.5 points (base 2015 = 100). Given an average annual inflation rate of +0.4%, real wages registered an increase of 0.5% in the whole economy (101.1 points, base 2015 = 100).

In general, the decisions on pay rises in 2019 were made in autumn 2018 when inflation of +0.5% was estimated for 2019. In the end, inflation was +0.4% in that year. The purchasing power of wages, resulting from the adjustment of nominal wages for inflation, thus rose for the first time in two years. For the main collective labour agreements (CLA) covering almost half a million employees, the increase in real (nominal) wages negotiated at collective level for 2019 was +0.5%.

Nominal and real wage growth in 2019
		Nominal wages in %	Real wages in %
Total economy		0.9	0.5
Inflation	+0.4%
Sector 2		0.9	0.5
Sector 3		0.9	0.6
Men		0.9	0.5
Women		1.0	0.6

Wage growth by industry in 2019

In 2019, nominal wages increased by an average of +0.9% in the industrial sector compared with the previous year (+0.3 in 2018, +0.4% in 2017 and +0.4% in 2016).

The tertiary sector recorded an increase in nominal wages of 0.9% in 2019 (+0.5 in 2018, +0.4% in 2017 and +0.8% in 2016).

On average, real wage growth in the industrial sector was +0.5% and +0.6% in the services sector.

Real wage growth varied widely in 2019 and ranged from –1.1% to +1.3%, underlining the diversity of wage dynamics that characterise each economic activity.