The average wage in the Czech Republic rose 8 percent in the final quarter of 2017 to CZK 31,646, a rise of more than CZK 2,000 since the same period in 2016. Over the same period, net consumer inflation saw prices rise by 5.3 percent, according to new statistics of the Czech Statistics Office. Experts had expected just a 5 percent jump in prices. The new data shows that teachers received 15 percent raises while office workers saw just a 10 percent improvement. In all, state sector workers took in 13 percent more than last year. This is having an impact on the private sector, which is experiencing salary inflation because of a scarcity of labor. Wages in the Czech Republic have reached 67 percent of the EU average, an improvement over last year’s 65 percent, and are on the same level as in Poland, Portugal and Greece.
