Net wages grew at the same pace, reaching HUF 268,300 as a monthly average.

Non-regular wage components such as bonuses had a significant impact on average wages in November, KSH noted.

Calculating with a 12-month CPI of 3.4% in November, real wages were up 10.2%.

Excluding the 98,800 Hungarians in fostered work programs, the average gross wage rose 13.5% to HUF 415,000, while net wages grew at the same rate to HUF 276,000.

Excluding fostered workers, the average gross wage in the business sector, which includes state-owned companies, rose 12.1% to HUF 411,000. The average wage in the public sector increased 18.1% to HUF 436,400.

Full-time fostered workers earned gross HUF 82,100 in November, 0.1% less than a year earlier.

In January-November, gross wages rose 11.2% year-on-year to HUF 364,300 and were up 10.4% without fostered workers at HUF 374,500. Excluding fostered workers, business sector gross wages rose 11.4% and public sector wages rose 7.7% in the period.

Men employed full-time earned gross HUF 398,100 a month on average during the period, while women earned HUF 332,700. Wages rose 11.7% and 10.6%, respectively, on an annual basis.

Those under 25 years earned a monthly gross average of HUF 281,500, and the monthly average was HUF 380,200 for those aged between 25 and 54 years and was HUF 358,900 for those over 54 years.

Regular gross wages rose 10.3% on average from a year earlier to HUF 338,100.

Real wages were up 7.6% in January-November, calculating with a 12-month CPI of 3.3%.

In January-November average gross monthly wage was highest in the finance and insurance sector, at HUF 656,100, and lowest in accommodation and catering services, at HUF 238,100.

Analyst András Horváth of Takarékbank attributed the higher-than-expected November wage growth to workforce shortages, the effect of the minimum wage increase and monthly bonus payments. He predicted annual average wage growth of more than 9% this year, with real wage growth of around 5.5%.

Péter Virovácz of ING Bank forecast full-year wage growth of more than 11% and a real wage increase of around 7.5% in 2019 and said that wage growth could remain in the double digits even in 2020.

Dávid Németh of K&H Bank said he expected wage growth to slow down slightly this year, with real wage growth of 4-5%.