Average wage in the Philippines among the lowest worldwide

Data compiled by e-commerce platform Picodi revealed that the average wage in the Philippines is among the lowest in the world as of August 2020.

Photo credit: ffcruz.com.ph

Citing data from crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, Picodi said the Philippines grabbed the 95th out of 106 countries in terms of average wage, recorded at $308 or P15,200.

The countries who topped the list were Switzerland with ₱296,200 ($5,989) followed by Luxembourg with ₱198,500 ($4,014), next is the United States with ₱174,800 ($3,534) and Denmark with ₱173,900 ($3,515); 

The Philippines outranked counties such as Indonesia and Bangladesh with P15,100 ($306); Tunisia and Nicaragua with P14,700 ($308); Georgia with P14,100 ($284); and Algeria with P13,200 ($266).

The countries with the lowest average wage were Pakistan with $209 (₱10,300), Nepal with $192 (₱9,500), Nigeria with $184 (₱9,100), Uganda with $171 (₱8,500), and Cuba with $36 (₱1,800).

The current minimum wage in Metro Manila is ₱537 which equates to about ₱10,740 per month with a five-day workweek. In addition, the minimum wage varies from region to region, but is generally lower for other regions across the country.

The survey, which was conducted for August, processed data coming from Numbeo, a website that surveys hundreds of thousands of citizens about their salaries after taxes, and arranged the rank using the value of the Philippine peso based on the prevailing exchange rate in Google Finance for this month.

The average wages after taxes come from the website numbeo.com. Local currencies were converted at the average Google Finance rate for August 2020, 

Picodi.com explained.

When it comes to Asian countries, the Philippines ended up in the second part of the ranking (12th out of 16). It was outrun by countries such as Thailand (₱30,600), India (₱21,600), or Vietnam (₱20,000). Following was Indonesia (₱15,100), Sri Lanka (₱12,800), Cambodia (₱10,500), and Pakistan (₱10,300). The ultimate leaders are Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong — the only countries with average wages higher than ₱140,000.

The Philippines has long suffered from low wages prompting labor groups to seek wage increases and regularization for job security. The current pandemic has worsened the existing conditions, as some companies were left with no choice but to terminate employees to ensure continuous operations. The latest surveys from the Social Weather Stations said that the country’s unemployment rate increased to 45.5% in July as people were left out of jobs while lockdowns were placed to avoid coronavirus transmissions.