Real wages in Cuba today are barely two-thirds of the average salary in 1989.
14ymedio, Havana, 18 April 2025 — 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 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 for 2024, published by Onei, is equivalent to $16.
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 any small or medium-size business.
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 $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 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 at Thursday’s informal exchange rate. This sector’s decline is reflected in the appalling state of unsanitary conditions in cities and the appearance of hundreds of ‘informal’ piles of garbage in the cities and countryside.
Making slightly higher wages are workers in commerce and personal effects 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.
Education and Public Health accounted for barely 3% of the state budget in 2024 , although in the latter sector, health workers earn a salary above the national average of 6,154 pesos (about $17). Teachers, in a historically neglected sector, earn less, with an average of 5,451 pesos ($15).
It is not surprising, in this case, that some 26,871 teaching positions are vacant throughout the country.
It is not surprising, in this case, that some 26,871 teaching positions remain vacant across the country, with employees migrating to the private sector despite having received a salary increase last year.
Another interesting aspect is that of hotel and restaurant workers, who earn an average of 4,962 pesos, about $13.60. It’s worth noting that, in addition to not including profits and payments in foreign currency in the calculation, tourism sector employees receive their pay through a state-run intermediary company that sets the amount independently of what foreign firms that manage hotels on the island pay for their employment.
This category also includes employees of abandoned state-run hotels and restaurants, which have been disappearing due to the government’s lack of interest in domestic tourism.
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.
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