Public officials were not saved by the inflationary crisis. They certainly had the right to salary increases, but did not completely compensate for the price increase. Result, they lost in purchasing power.
A insep study this Wednesday, July 23, details the increases in the three branches of the State: the public service of the State, the Territorial and the Hospital. It shows that the salary of public officials has decreased on average by 2022 and 2023, when inflation is taken into account.
Therefore, in 2023, an agent of the State Public Service obtained an average of 2,886 euros per month in full -time equivalent (EQTP). The average net salary increased by 4.4% in 2023, after a form of 2.9% in 2022.
But when the effects of inflation are rooted, the calculation is no longer the same. Given the inflationary context ( +4.9% in 2023 after +5.2% in 2022), the average net salary in constant euros (that is, corrected by inflation) decreased for two consecutive years (-0.4% in 2023 after -2.2% in 2022).
In detail, the fall is particularly marked for public officials in category B (-1.7 %), “who benefit from less specific compensation revaluation measures,” according to Insee. The average net salary of public officials in category A is almost stable (-0.1 %), that of public officials in category C and non-functional ones are stable.
-0.9% in territorial and hospitals
The fall in salary is even more pronounced in the other branches. In the Territorial Public Service, an agent received on average 2,254 euros net in 2023. Despite an increase in salaries of +3.9% in 2023 after +4.1% in 2022, real wages (therefore corrected by inflation) still fell 0.9% in 2023, after a decrease of 1.1% in 2022.
Finally, in the public service of the hospital, the mechanism is the same. An agent received an average of 2,842 euros (knowing that the average is sensitive to the high salaries of doctors, but does not reflect the reality of the remuneration of hospital agents such as caregivers or stretcher carriers).
In current euros, this average net salary increased by 3.9% in 2023 (after +4.8% in 2022). But corrected by inflation, it actually fell by 0.9% in 2023 (after -0.4% in 2022) in constant euros.
A planned salary frost for 2026
The situation will not improve for the wallet of public officials since Prime Minister François Bayrou announced a freezing of their salaries in 2026, at the same level as in 2025 (as well as pensions, social benefits and the budget of the ministries in the framework of “the White Year”).
However, inflation has slowed down in 2024 and should continue this movement down. According to the forecasts of the bank of France, inflation will be 1% during the year 2025.
Source: BFM TV
