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The number of people with good income, earning at least EUR 6,000 per month, has increased by as much as 20% in the first half of the year, compared with 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic. This turns out in the report published today by the Helsinki GSE Situation Room. At the same time, the number of people earning at least EUR 2,500 per month has increased by about 5%, but the number of those earning at least EUR 1000 per month is still lower than in 2019.

‘The changes are surprisingly large,’ says Otto Toivanen, Academic Director of Helsinki GSE. ‘Based on the wage sums in the Incomes Register, it appears that the number of people who earn well in the labour market is rising, while the number of people with low incomes has decreased. The economy is recovering. Already, some people are clearly doing better, but the distress in the accommodation and restaurant sector, in particular, is reflected in the number of people employed.’ 

According to the Situation Room report, wages and salaries as a whole have also recovered from the fall in 2020. During the entire first half of the year, the development of the wage sum has been two to three per cent higher than in 2019. In particular, this increase can be seen in the industrial and trade sectors, where wage sums are at a clearly higher level than in 2019. The number of lay-offs is lower than that of 2019, which confirms the same observation of employment development. In the accommodation and restaurant sector, wage sums are still up to one third lower than before the coronavirus pandemic.

The Situation Room report also deals with the development of company turnover. A positive change can also be observed with this indicator. The early year has improved the turnover in companies of all sizes. However, the growth in turnover is particularly true for small companies, with less than 5 employees, as well as companies with 11-25 employees. In March, companies with fewer than five employees grew by about 8%, and companies with 11-25 employees by about 15%, compared to 2019.

You can explore the graphs in the appendices of this bulletin, as well as the actual report, which can be found at:

Further information:
Otto Toivanen
+358 50 353 7651
otto.toivanen@aalto.fi

Helsinki Graduate School of Economics is a joint teaching and research unit in economics of Aalto University, University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics.