Public-Sector Pay Rises to W5.22 Million

The average monthly salary of all people working in the public sector this year is W5.22 million gross, up 2.4 percent or W120,000 from last year's (US$1=W1,081).

This translates into an annual payroll of W62.64 million, according to figures from the Ministry of Personnel Management.

The figure is based on all 1.02 million public servants, from lowly clerical jobs to government ministers and judges.

Limiting the calculations to 460,000 workers in the civil service, the gross monthly pay comes down to W4.9 million.

Public-sector pay has been steadily rising from W4.67 million in 2015. This year's figure of W5.22 million is lower than in big companies with 300 or more staff (W7.27 million), but more than in small to medium-sized companies (W3.27 million), according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.