Although the minimum wage in Colombia by 2023 will be one of the highest in percentage terms in the 21st century in the country, its increase in real terms is less than last year.
(Actual rise from 2023 low is second highest since 1985.)
And it is that while this year a 16% increase in the minimum wage was agreed, the inflation expectations of the Bank of the Republic for December of this year estimate that the CPI will close 2022 at 12.64%, on average.
This means that subtracting the inflation figure from the salary increase, its real increase is 3.36%.
For its part, last year the increase in the minimum wage for 2022 was agreed at 10.07%. However, inflation for 2021 closed at 5.62%, which represented a real increase of 4.45%.
(This was the official announcement of the minimum wage for 2023).
These last two increases in real terms are the highest since 1985.
With this salary increase, President Gustavo Petro expects “That this increase recovers the purchasing power that has been lost in recent months due to inflation, recovers the increase in the average productivity of the economy, and also, makes internal demand in Colombia jump in the most vulnerable sectors, in such a way that we can correct not only a situation of growing hunger, but also that it becomes an engine of economic growth”.
According to experts, for the second part of next year the real increase in the minimum wage could increase considering that inflation could drop and thus recover the purchasing power of Colombians.
BRIEFCASE
