Is you wage enough for your life?

According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-April 2017, the average monthly nominal wage of hired workers in Azerbaijan increased by 6.8% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, amounting to 520.5 manats. The average monthly salary in the oil sector reached 3153.7 manats, in the non-oil sector - 458.5 manats. The wage of workers employed in state institutions amounted to 386.8 manat, in private enterprises - 714 manat.

The average monthly nominal wage in the financial, insurance, construction, professional, scientific and technical spheres, the spheres of the extractive industry, communications and information was above the national average.

Chairman of the Center for Sustainable Development Studies, Nariman Agayev, believes that the situation with salaries in various sectors of the national economy is ambiguous. Under the conditions of a slowdown in production, a decline in the volume of business, it is difficult to talk about the positive dynamics of average salary indicators. The methodology used to calculate salaries by the State Statistical Committee does not reflect the real situation.

Unfortunately, the agency presents an average figure for all industries, therefore official data do not always coincide with reality. It is better, of course, to provide indicators for all industries, then we can objectively assess the situation.

Today, the real average salary is just over 300 manats, this low figure is due to the fact that in the spheres of education and health the vast majority of employees receive low salaries. In addition, wages are frozen in many business sectors.

"Shocks continue in the banking sector. Due to the restructuring of departments, wages for some employees were raised by 15-20%. But this does not change the overall picture, so the increase has affected a small number of people. In the extractive industry there is a small increase in wages. But the official data is strongly embellished with respect to the construction sector. In this industry there is no noticeable revival, there is a reduction in staff and low wages remain. In general, it is not necessary to speak about real growth of average wages in the country," the expert points out.

Structural analysis of salaries in the state sector shows that the average salary of an official in the country reaches 610-620 manat, while ordinary citizens have about 300 manat; the difference is almost by two times. The lowest salaries get teachers, nurses, doctors, librarians. However, officials of regional departments of ministries receive the same modest salaries. But in the apparatus of ministries, salaries reach 1500-1800 manats.

Independent studies show that an average official gets by two and a half times more than scientists (their average salary is 241 manat), and by three times more than school teachers (average salary is 210 manats.)

The leaders on the level of salaries is the presidential administration, where the average salary is 2210 manats per month. The head of state receives 15,000 manats a month. In the second position is the government apparatus, where an average wage is 1,765 manat per month (the prime minister's monthly salary is 2406 manat, his deputies - 2125 manats .) The Accounts Chamber closes the top three leaders, where servants receive 1607 manats on average.

Much better are the wages of the deputies of the Milli Mejlis, although they occasionally complain about the non-equivalence of their salary for excessive work for the sake of the Azerbaijani people. The salary of parliamentarians is 2,200 manat, and of the speaker - up to 3,000 manat.

In the Constitutional Court, the average salary is 1,460 manat. Among the executive authorities, the salary leader is the Defense Ministry - 1340 manat. Then is the Ministry of War Industry, taxes, internal affairs, in which officials receive an average of 1280 manats. The lowest-paid among the republican officials are the employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Committee for Family, Women and Children, whose average salary was 653 manats.