New figures released by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs show that wages in the Czech Republic are continuing to grow significantly, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Friday.

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In 2017, average Czech monthly wages increased by seven percent compared to the previous year. Despite the increase, 65 percent of employees make less than the average 30,000 crowns.

The median wage, which is the level at which most people are earning, removing part of the distortion from high earners, came in at little over 26,000 crowns last year.

Women saw a larger wage increase than men last year, but the difference between their salaries remains significant, in some cases as high as 7,000 crowns.

This reflects both gender differences in pay for the same job and the fact that women are often employed in low-paid service jobs and fail to occupy top management positions.

People with lower education saw proportionately bigger wage increases than employees with university educations. Despite the increase, people with basic education still earn below-average wages.

The median wage of university-educated people, on the other hand, for the first time increased to 40,000 crowns.

Traditionally low-earning jobs, for instance in services industry and sales, increased by as much as 13 percent. Shop assistants in the Czech Republic currently earn around 18,000 crowns, In Prague, they made over 20,000 crowns.

Among the best-paid employees are air traffic controllers and senior state officials, who earn on average 200,000 crowns a month. Cleaners and waiters find themselves on the other end of the scale with an average salary of only around 15,000 crowns.