Inflation
Inflation plays a big part in real wage increases Getty

Wages in Asia will see the biggest surge in 2016 as the whole world is expected to get a pay rise. Advisory firm Korn Ferry Hay Group forecasts in its salary report that average pay is set to rise by 2.5% in 2016.

The global salary increase is the biggest since 2013 and takes in account low inflation. In Vietnam, a wage hike of more than 7% is expected on average, leading the world, with Asia overall seeing the highest increases.

UK workers are expected to get a 2.3% real pay rise as employers have to pay the new living wage from 1 January 2016.

China and the Dominic Republic follow Vietnam, while Venezuela is the heavyweight dragging down the global average with a huge drop of over 50% in real wages. In Europe, wages are set to increase 2.8%, but real wages will only rise by 2.3% because of 0.5% inflation.

"Asia continues to drive growth in wages globally as companies look set to increase wages," Hay Group executive Philip Spriet said. "However, the global labour market is in flux as the ageing workforce in advanced economies begins to take hold."

Despite the growth slowdown in emerging economies, many of which are Asian, the biggest surge is still there. However, inflation plays a major role. The BRIC countries are clearly divided, erasing any significant pattern for emerging countries.

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Although both China and India's average wages are set to increase, Brazilian and Russian wages are among those experiencing the biggest downturn. Especially in Russia, this is linked to high inflation.

"In emerging economies, upskilling workers is crucial for companies to maintain competitive advantage and those skilled employees can expect to see wages rise as talent shortages in certain regions drives salaries up," Spriet said.

Argentina's salaries are expected to rise by 31%, but people will not be able to buy much more as inflation will increase by 27%. In both Venezuela and Ukraine, the heavy inflation plays a very significant part in offsetting the real wage increase.

Below are the countries and their perspective salary movement listed, based on data provided by Korn Ferry Hay Group.

RegionCountry2016 Salary Forecast2016 inflation forecast<sup><sup>
'Real' increase2015 Salary Forecast
AfricaAlgeria6.0%5.1%0.9%6.6%
Latin AmericaArgentina31.0%27.4%3.6%32.5%
PacificAustralia2.5%1.9%0.6%3.0%
EuropeAustria3.0%1.0%2.0%2.7%
Middle EastBahrain4.5%1.8%2.7%5.0%
EuropeBelgium1.7%0.5%1.2%2.0%
AfricaBotswana6.0%3.2%2.8%n/a
Latin AmericaBrazil7.7%8.9%-1.2%6.1%
EuropeBulgaria4.0%0.1%3.9%4.2%
North AmericaCanada2.6%1.3%1.3%2.6%
Latin AmericaChile5.0%4.4%0.6%5.0%
AsiaChina8.0%1.7%6.3%8.0%
Latin AmericaColombia4.7%4.4%0.3%3.5%
Latin AmericaCosta Rica5.5%1.4%4.1%6.0%
EuropeCyprus1.8%-0.5%2.3%0.0%
EuropeCzech Republic2.0%0.5%1.5%2.0%
EuropeDenmark2.2%0.6%1.6%2.5%
Latin AmericaDominican Republic6.2%0.8%5.4%6.0%
Latin AmericaEcuador5.3%4.2%1.1%n/a
AfricaEgypt10.0%10.4%-0.4%10.0%
Latin AmericaEl Salvador3.9%0.2%3.7%4.1%
EuropeEstonia3.0%0.1%2.9%2.8%
EuropeFinland1.0%0.0%1.0%1.0%
EuropeFrance1.9%0.2%1.7%2.0%
EuropeGermany2.9%0.2%2.7%2.8%
EuropeGreece2.0%-1.4%3.4%1.3%
Latin AmericaGuatemala5.1%2.3%2.8%5.4%
Latin AmericaHonduras6.4%4.2%2.2%5.5%
AsiaHong Kong4.5%3.1%1.4%4.0%
EuropeHungary3.0%0.6%2.4%3.0%
AsiaIndia10.3%5.6%4.7%10.5%
AsiaIndonesia9.1%6.7%2.4%10.0%
EuropeIreland2.0%-0.2%2.2%1.4%
EuropeItaly2.5%0.4%2.1%2.7%
AsiaJapan2.0%1.0%1.0%2.0%
Middle EastJordan5.0%-0.3%5.3%6.0%
EuropeKazakhstan7.4%5.8%1.6%7.8%
AsiaKorea5.0%0.7%4.3%5.0%
Middle EastKuwait5.0%3.4%1.6%5.0%
EuropeLatvia3.7%0.7%3.0%2.4%
Middle EastLebanon9.3%-2.2%11.5%6.7%
EuropeLithuania4.0%-1.0%5.0%3.3%
EuropeLuxembourg2.9%0.1%2.8%3.2%
AsiaMalaysia6.0%2.1%3.9%6.4%
Latin AmericaMexico4.6%2.7%1.9%4.8%
AfricaMorocco3.6%1.5%2.1%4.5%
EuropeNetherlands2.5%0.3%2.2%2.3%
PacificNew Zealand3.0%0.7%2.3%3.0%
Latin AmericaNicaragua6.0%4.4%1.6%6.1%
EuropeNorway2.6%1.7%0.9%3.2%
Middle EastOman4.0%0.9%3.1%5.5%
Latin AmericaPanama4.9%0.7%4.2%5.4%
Latin AmericaPeru5.0%3.6%1.4%5.5%
AsiaPhilippines7.0%1.8%5.2%7.5%
EuropePoland2.6%-0.8%3.4%3.0%
EuropePortugal1.3%0.9%0.4%1.0%
Middle EastQatar5.0%2.1%2.9%5.0%
EuropeRomania4.8%-0.6%5.4%4.6%
EuropeRussian Federation7.0%14.5%-7.5%6.8%
Middle EastSaudi Arabia5.0%2.4%2.6%5.0%
AsiaSingapore4.0%0.3%3.7%4.4%
EuropeSlovakia2.5%-0.3%2.8%2.0%
AfricaSouth Africa6.9%4.8%2.1%6.2%
EuropeSpain1.8%-0.4%2.2%1.1%
EuropeSweden2.4%0.1%2.3%2.3%
EuropeSwitzerland1.4%-1.1%2.5%1.4%
AsiaThailand6.0%-0.1%6.1%6.0%
AfricaTunisia6.8%4.9%1.9%7.0%
EuropeTurkey8.0%7.4%0.6%9.0%
EuropeUkraine11.5%48.3%-36.8%6.8%
Middle EastUnited Arab Emirates5.0%4.1%0.9%5.0%
EuropeUnited Kingdom2.5%0.2%2.3%2.5%
North AmericaUnited States of America3.0%0.3%2.7%3.0%
Latin AmericaVenezuela70.0%122.6%-52.6%40.3%
AsiaVietnam8.6%1.3%7.3%11.4%
China Venezuela Ukraine