In a 2018 report, the World Bank said that improving the link between labor productivity and
real wage growth would also be critical in reducing poverty.
Qatar and Lebanon are both predicted to see a drop in
real wages, with Qatar forecast to have a -0.5 per cent loss in
real wages, and Lebanon to have a -1.7 loss in
real wages.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, incomes will also move slower, with Lebanon forecast to see a drop of 1.7 per cent in
real wages. This is compared to 1.8 per cent growth in Lebanon last year and 6.1 per cent growth the year before.
This is the lowest growth in
real wages since the financial crisis in 2008.
The next worst affected area in the region was South Tyneside, down 7% or PS28 a week, then Sunderland where
real wages have dropped by 5%, or PS22 a week.
In analyzing wage growth, the report finds that in advanced G20 countries
real wage growth declined from 0.9 per cent in 2016 to 0.4 per cent in 2017.
"From 2001 to 2016, labor productivity grew by at least 50 percent, yet the
real wages did not grow at all.
On current trends, in which
real wages have grown by just 0.7% a year since 2014, it will take until 2099 for
real wages to double again to [pounds sterling]904.
The paradox of slow capital accumulation with a rising profit share may be explained by different factors: a depressed domestic market due to the stagnation of
real wages; a wedge between profit share and profit rate; a reduction in relative profitability caused by the fall in the US manufacturing labour share
Taiwan's
real wages have been stagnant for two decades.
The growth in
real wages, ongoing since early this year, is set to shore up consumer demand throughout 2018.
The figures, calculated by ETUI from independent data published in February 2018, aim to reflect the value of earnings - known as "
real wages" - after inflation and living costs have been taken into account.
