0:34 24 November 2021
GUS publishes data on the median of wages
The median salary in Poland amounted to PLN 4,702.66 gross in October 2020, results from Central Statistical Office (GUS) data published only once every two years. This is much less than the average salary. In October 2020, the average monthly total gross salary for persons employed in entities of the national economy employing 10 or more persons amounted to PLN 5,748.24. This means that the monthly average salary given by the GUS is higher than the median salary considered by statisticians to be more precise by as much as 22.2 percent.
If one person earns PLN 10,000 and another only PLN 1,000, they earn an average of PLN 5,500 – statistically true, because this is how the average is calculated. In order to have a closer picture of Poles' earnings, one should look at the median, i.e. the middle value. The median salary in Poland is a value that divides Poles exactly in half in terms of pay: 50 percent above this amount is richer, and 50 percent – poorer.
It is not clear why GUS publishes monthly data on average wages. Meanwhile, many statistical offices around the world – for example, the British equivalent of the GUS, i.e. ONS (Office for National Statistics) – primarily publish the median of earnings.
