In emerging markets

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe compete for investment with locations in other emerging markets in Asia, Latin America or Africa as well as with lower-tier developed markets.

In the table below, earnings in selected emerging markets are compared with average earnings data for countries from the CEE region.

It is important to note that:

• gross earnings data are not fully comparable owing to different coverage (whole economy, economy excluding agriculture, manufacturing only) and varying methodologies;
• the levels of additional costs on top of gross earnings vary between countries.

Comparison with other markets well illustrates the internal diversity of the CEE region where some countries command earnings levels similar to those in lower-tier high income economies, while at the other end of the spectrum some CEE locations are among the lowest cost worldwide, on a par with China.

In the case of Slovenia average earnings are higher than in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Portugal and very close to Israel’s. For Croatia they are on a par with Portugal and Taiwan.

The rest of Central Europe and Estonia, although lagging behind Portugal or Asian newly industrialized economies, command earnings higher than in most emerging markets and approach the levels of South Africa and Turkey.

Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Russia have earnings levels more typical of other major emerging markets, particularly in Latin America.

The countries with the lowest earnings, Bulgaria and Ukraine, had earnings lower than in most of Latin America and similar to those in China or Thailand.