Today’s Average Cuban Salary Now Equals US $16 per Month
Official data hides a huge decline in purchasing power
Real wages in Cuba today are barely two-thirds of the average salary in 1989, a time when rations sold to the population at subsidized prices were still far more than today.
HAVANA TIMES – The report published this Friday by Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) is more than a summary of the “evolution” of the average Cuban salary until 2024, it is the umpteenth expression—in numbers and graphs—of Cuba’s economic debacle. The figures broken down by the entity become even more serious when compared to their equivalent in dollars, an essential translation for understanding the island’s households’ decline in purchasing power.
In 2024, the average monthly salary of state workers—the majority, comprising 64% of the workforce—was 5,839 pesos, an increase of 25.4% (approximately 1,185 pesos) compared to the previous year, and 750% compared to 2015, when Cubans earned an average of 687 pesos.
However, between 2015 and 2022, the consumer price index increased 24-fold, and real wages (purchasing power) fell by 96%, according to a study published by Columbia Law School. The current average real wage is barely two-thirds of what it was in 1989, stated Ricardo Torres, Cuban economist and professor at American University in Washington, in May 2024.
The average monthly salary in 2024 was equivalent to $16, barely enough to buy four bottles of oil or two and a half cartons of 30 eggs in the small private shops when they are available.
Onei specifies that the average salary does not include “either the profits or foreign currency earnings” received by some workers in the tourism, construction, port, and other sectors.
By sector, the highest paid workers are those in electricity, gas, and water services, with an average monthly salary of 9,317 pesos, about US $25 at the current informal exchange rate. They are followed on the list by construction workers with 8,538 pesos ($23.50) and employees dedicated to mining and quarrying with 8,253 pesos ($22.70). Aside from these, no other sector on the list, including all professionals, earns more than 8,000 pesos.
The lowest paid workers are no surprise. Leading the way are community services (cleaning, garbage collection, and maintenance) with 4,033 pesos, just $11. This sector’s decline is reflected in the appalling state of unsanitary conditions in cities and the appearance of hundreds of garbage piles on urban streets and in the countryside.
Making slightly higher wages are workers in commerce and personal item repair, such as appliance technicians at state-owned workshops known as consolidated repair shops. Their average salary is just 4,240 pesos, or $11.60. In third place from the bottom is culture and sports, where the average salary is 4,840 pesos, the equivalent of $13.30, making this sector one of the lowest paid on the island.
By province, workers in Artemisa and Havana earn the highest average monthly wages, above 6,000 pesos, about $16.44, while the rest earn below that amount.
Translated by Translating Cuba.
It’s like frogs that are put in a pot of water that is placed on a burner to boil.
As the water slowly, but surely, starts to boil, many of the frogs — the smart ones ~~ feel the heat and have the courage and initiative to jump out to save themselves.
Most of the frogs — the timid, submissive ones — feel the heat but ignore it. Some believe, but the rest just hope, that it is temporary.
Somebody or something will save them — they keep hoping (or believing) — as the water gets hotter and hotter and they all get boiled together.