Gross average wage grows more than 7 pct on year in all Baltic countries

RIGA - In the third quarter of 2017, the gross average monthly wage grew by more than 7 percent on year in all the three Baltic countries, according to information from the national statistical offices of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

In Latvia, the gross average monthly wage in the first nine months of this year was 925 euros, 7.5 percent bigger than in the same period in 2016. In Estonia the gross average monthly wage rose 7.4 percent compared with the same period last year to 1,201 euros in January-September this year, while Lithuania reported an increase of 7.2 percent to 851 euros.

Compared to the second quarter of 2017, the gross average monthly wage in the third quarter of the year fell in Latvia and Estonia -- by 0.1 percent and 3.3 percent respectively, while Lithuania showed a 1.4 percent increase. The Estonian statistics office said that the wage reduction quarter-on-quarter was mostly due to a decrease in irregular bonuses.