Vietnam leads Southeast Asia in salary growth

Vietnam is expected to have a 5.1 percent increase in salary in 2020 (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, Thailand is among the top five economies in the world to see real salary increases as productivity grows. The country is likely to see a real salary increase of 4.1 percent in 2020, up from 3.9 percent in 2019.

The average real salary increase in Singapore is forecast at 3 percent in 2020, down from 3.3 percent in 2019, which is above average in Asia-Pacific and more than double Hong Kong's rise of 1.4 percent. India will again see the highest real salary increase in Asia, predicted to be 5.4 percent.

The average increase in real terms in Asia-Pacific is forecast at 3.2 percent. India took the top spot, followed by Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, then Thailand.

Workers in Vietnam and Thailand will both see further increases to their salaries as the nominal salaries expected to be given by employers stay well ahead of the low levels of inflation that these countries will see in 2020, Lee Quane, Regional Director of Asia at ECA International, was quoted by the Thai media as saying.

Lee said this has been a long-term trend for both countries, as productivity continues to grow and inflation is controlled.

Asian nations lead the way again for salary increases with 13 out of the top 20 hikes in real salaries and the entire top five in the global rankings.

In China, the real salary increase is again expected to be above the regional and global average at 3.6 percent.

However, not all in emerging Asia will benefit from an above-average salary rise after inflation. Workers in Malaysia are expected to see a big drop in their real salary increases compared with previous years, to 2.9 percent from 4 percent in 2019.

VNF ( VNA )