Pakistan is the only nation in Asia Pacific predicted to see a decrease in their real salary in 2020, according to a report released on Tuesday by mobility consultancy ECA International. 

As per the report from the UK based international Human Resource consulting company, “The average real salary increase in Pakistan is forecasted to be -3.0 percent meaning that employees will be worse off than they were last year. Despite the nominal increase staying at a relatively high 10.0pc, inflation has shot up as the rupee has depreciated. Inflation in Pakistan is forecasted to reach 13.0pc in 2020, exceeding the nominal increase and leaving workers out of pocket compared to 2019," explained Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia at ECA International.

However, India topped the table for average real salary increases in Asia, but now also tops the table globally for 2020. The average real salary increase is set to be 5.4% for workers in India, which is four times the rise expected in Hong Kong.

“Salaries in India are set to rise significantly, with a 5.4% increase almost four times as high as the expected increase in Hong Kong. Despite inflation rising slightly from 2019 and the economy slowing slightly, though workers can still expect more increases" said Quane.

Workers in China are set to see a real salary increase of 3.6% in 2020, while UK workers will receive a lower real salary increase in 2020 as compared to the previous year. Overall, the global average salary increase stands at 1.4% and the Asia-Pacific average increase is 3.2%.