The National Insurance presents for the first time in Israel a
full Israel Salary Report, which brings comprehensive data on the state of the Israeli wage market in various segments
The Coronavirus crisis in 2020 led, among other things, to a change in legislation that required employers to report to the National Insurance every month using a new form - a monthly 100 Form, which details all the workers employed by them and the salary they receive, by compensation items. This is in contrast to the previous situation where the reporting obligation was at the employer level and included the number of jobs and the total salary scope paid by the employer.
This is a real change because the data appearing in the National Insurance Salary Report will allow us to obtain an up-to-date and reliable picture of wages and employment in the labor market every month at the employee level and not just at the job level.
The reporting using this form began as an experiment in the second half of 2021 and the reporting obligation for all employers came into effect on November 2021.
From an examination of the representation of employers by business size and economic sector, the employers who did report using this form constitute a representative sample.
The data reported by the employer in the monthly report was cross-referenced with demographic and other data found in the National Insurance Institute databases and together constitute a database that allows for in-depth analysis of the labor market for decision-making purposes. This report uses the data from the monthly database to present a snapshot of wages and employment of employees for the years 2023 and 2024.
As mentioned, the reports allow for an up-to-date and more detailed monthly snapshot of the labor market: for the first time, it is possible to add to the monthly data of wages per employee position also data on wages per employee, based on administrative data.
In addition, for the first time, it is possible to produce monthly data, for example, on median wages, wages by gender, and the number of employees working in more than one position.
On average per month of work in the period under review, approximately 3.9 million jobs with total wage payments of NIS 52.6 billion have been reported (Table 1 presents average data per month per year and Table A in the Appendix presents monthly data).
Key data
- The average monthly wage per employee in 2024 was NIS 14,657 in current prices, compared to NIS 13,897 in 2023 – an increase of 5.5% compared to an average increase in the Consumer Price Index of approximately 3.1%. The average wage per employee is at the top of the wage distribution, in the seventh decile.
- The average monthly wage per employee position was NIS 13,385 in current prices in 2024, compared to NIS 12,693 in 2023 – an increase of 5.5%. The average gap between the median monthly wage and the average monthly wage per employee was, in current prices, NIS 4,289 in 2024 and NIS 4,077 in 2023 – an increase of about 5%, with the range of the gap each year ranging from 36% to 50%.
- The average number of employers reporting data to the National Insurance was 274,063 in 2024 compared to 274,297 in 2023.
- The average number of jobs reported was 3,932,706 in 2024 compared to 3,866,421 in 2023 – an increase of about 2%.
- During the period under review, about 298 thousand employees were employed in more than one job, accounting for about 8% of all employees. Workers employed in two jobs earned on average less than those with one job.
- In the five lowest deciles, there are more women than men (about 46%), and in deciles 7-10 – there were more men than women (about 48%). The phenomenon is especially pronounced in the tenth decile, where the gap reached 174%.
- The phenomenon of having more than one job is statistically higher among women: 180,854 women compared to 116,947 men on average during the period under review, 10% of salaried women and 7% of salaried men.
Number of salaried employees by number of jobs, average per month, 2023-2024
Year
| Number of salaried positions by worker
|
|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4+ |
| 2023 | 3,233,463 | 264,251 | 25,811 | 4,904 |
|---|
| 2024 | 3,288,108 | 269,746 | 26,003 | 4,886
|
|---|
Wage data by age and gender groups
- The average wage of employees is divided in the period under review by age groups from highest to lowest as follows: 59-50 (NIS 19,472 in 2024), 49-40 (NIS 18,958 in 2024), 39-30 (NIS 15,684 in 2024), 60 and over (NIS 14,371 in 2024), 20-29 (NIS 8,434 in 2024), 20 and under (NIS 3,032 in 2024)
Figure 9: Average wage per employee by gender (current prices), 2024
- The average wage of men was approximately 54% higher than that of women – NIS 17,386 compared to NIS 11,288, respectively.
- The median wage for men was about 40% higher than the median wage for women – NIS 12,033 compared to NIS 8,598, respectively.
- The average wage gap between men and women increases with age, up to age 60.
Figure 4: Number of employees by gender (millions, original data), January 2023 - December 2024
Wage data by industry
- The industries in which the median wage for an employee position was highest were electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, and information and communications (NIS 27,138 and NIS 21,475, respectively). In these industries, the average wage was also the highest (NIS 30,284 and NIS 27,823, respectively).
- The lowest average and median wage per employment position was in the hospitality and food services industry (NIS 6,119 and 4,463 NIS, respectively) – about 47% less than the average wage per employee position in the economy (NIS 13,039) and about 50% less than the median wage per employee position for the period under review (NIS 8,937).
- The industries characterized by a high number of jobs are wholesale and retail trade, local administration, public administration and security, as well as health services and welfare and relief services – 503,270, 442,661 and 403,594, respectively.
Figure 10: Average Wage per Employee Position by Economic Sector (Current Prices), 2024
- In the years 2023-2024, approximately 73% of employers were small employers, employing up to five employees (inclusive). These employers offered approximately 11% of all jobs (Table 17 and Table 14 in the Appendix). Employers with up to 19 employees (inclusive) accounted for approximately 92% of all employers. In contrast, large employers with more than 100 employees accounted for only 1.5% of all employers (Table 17 and Table 14 in the Appendix). In terms of the share of jobs, employers with up to 19 employees held only approximately 24% of all jobs. Large employers with 100 or more employees held between 57% and 58% of jobs in the economy (Table 17 and Table 14 in the Appendix). The next section presents the average wage per employee position and the median wage by employer size. It can be seen that in 2023-2024, the average wage and median wage generally increase as the employer gets larger, up to employers with 499 employees (Table 17, Table 14 in the Appendix and Figure 11).
Figure 11: Average and Median Wage for a Salaried Position by Employer Size, Average per Month (Current Prices), 2024
Wage Data by Locality
- Among the 27 largest cities in Israel with more than 75,000 residents, the average monthly wage was highest in Ra'anana (NIS 21,534), Herzliya (NIS 21,473), Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut (NIS 21,148), and Tel Aviv (NIS 20,655).
- The largest cities with the lowest average wages were Modi'in Illit (NIS 7,841), Bnei Brak (NIS 9,073), Rahat (NIS 9,123), and Nazareth (NIS 9,643).
Zvika Cohen, Director General of the National Insurance Institute: "For years, the National Insurance Institute has worked to produce a salary report that will be a central tool in economic decisions about the Israeli economy. Thanks to the report, decision-makers, relevant ministries and the public will receive a transparent view of the situation in the economy on a monthly basis, a breakdown by industry, city, gender, significant salary deviations and accurately examine the 'behavior of the economy'. In the future and in the National Insurance's vision, this data will be used to reduce bureaucracy, integrate salary data and thus save documents from Israeli citizens while at the same time ensuring better utilization of social rights for those who need it."
Nitsa Kasir, Deputy Director General of the National Insurance Institute's Research Administration: "The National Insurance Institute's Salary Report is a significant breakthrough for the Israeli economy. From now on, we will be able to provide data that has never been seen before in Israel, certainly not at this level of accuracy, about Israeli salaried employees, and to anticipate crises before they break out, to analyze in short periods of time situations of economic slowdown, impact on the state budget, economic contribution to the economy, reflection of wage changes, wage inequality, early retirement, and more. This is a report that has never been seen before in Israel and can be a significant tool for outlining policy for decision-makers."
As mentioned, the data for the last quarter of 2024 is not yet complete.