GDP Wage Capacity began to grow - FBK

By the data of 2012 the wage capacity of Russian GDP grew up to 36.6% (from 35.6% - refined data for 2011). That most important macroeconomic index (the ratio of summary nominal wages of population engaged in the economy to the national GDP volume) is not calculated by Rosstat, but beginning from 2009 it is calculated by the analysts of FBK Auditing-Consulting Company.
After the decline in 2010-2011 the share of wages in the GDP began to increase again. “The trend has changed from the decline to growth” says Igor Nikolaev, FBK Director of Strategic Analysis Department.  Though it is still too far from the record-breaking figure in 2009 (тthe wage capacity amounted to 40% at that time)”. As the expert reminds, that record was with an evident minus. The wage capacity of Russian GDP has significantly exceeded not only the indexes of countries with the level of economic development like ours, but also of many highly developed European countries. And today the index of Russia is still somewhat higher than in the economically comparable countries. Even more so, is in Russia that the FBK analysts registered a most prominent growth of GDP wage capacity (by 1 p.p) among the countries that made public all the required statistical data as of the end of May 2013. In the majority of other countries whose indexes are analyzed by FBK analysts some insignificant and multidirectional changes have been registered in GDP wage capacity.
Commensurable in scale, but with a downward trend, changes in the level of GDP wage capacity was registered in Greece (-1.7 p.p.) and in Portugal (-1.5 p.p.). “That is quite understandable, given a complicated economic status of these countries”, says I. Nikolaev. Besides, in Greece the lowest absolute index of wage capacity of 25.4% was registered. (Maximum wage GDP capacity by the data of 2012 in Great Britain is 45%). At the same time FBK experts make a reservation that almost half of European countries have not provided the required data for calculations. “I would say that is the first year for us to register such a large-scale failure to present the data”, says I. Nikolaev. – In this connection the present rating of countries by their GDP wage capacity is characterized as being less informative”.
Taking into account the worsening economic situation in Russia and the turn towards the increase of GDP wage capacity, FBK experts forecast its further growth by the data of 2013, too. However, earlier the inadequately high wage capacity index of Russian GDP was to a great extent the result of economic structure in Russia when a colossal afflux of money was ensured at the expense of large and expensive export of raw materials. The situation is changing now: the external economic climate is changing for the worse in respect of basic raw goods exported from Russia.  “That means that the record-breaking figure of 2009 will not be achieved”, thinks I. Nikolaev. – The fact that since August 2012 the amount of unsettled debts for wages, which exceeded 2.5 billion roubles in April 2013, has begun to grow is another proof of such forecast being well-grounded”.