According to preliminary data available to the ILO, in the first half of 2024. real wages increased by 2.7% (2.3% if China is excluded), which would represent the largest increase in fifteen years.

By region, the only ones where wage growth did not recover in 2023 were in AfricaV North America and in the west, north and south Europe.

ILO analysts highlight in their report that while there is a trend towards lower pay inequality, there is a big difference underlying this: Wages vary greatly depending on whether a country is low-, middle-, or high-income.where they are 201, 630 and 3333 dollars (at the purchasing power conversion rate), respectively.

This means that the purchasing power of a worker with an average salary in a middle-income country will be less than 20% of the purchasing power of a worker with the same wage scale in a high-income country. worker in a low-income country that has a purchasing power of barely 6%.

The conclusion is that although The wage gap narrowed in the first quarter of the 21st century, inequalities in labor income still too highagainst which the ILO proposes that collective bargaining, or the setting of a legal minimum wage – through dialogue between government, employers and trade unions – should be the main way countries adjust wages.

In addition, it considers the necessary mechanisms for promote equal pay between men and womensince the latter are likely to be among the lowest paid.

The same thing happens with employees. informal economywhich represent the majority of workers in poor countries and almost half in middle-income countries.

EFE