State secretary: Wages of doctors, nurses to further increase next year

The wages of doctors will be raised by an additional 11 percent as of January 1 under an agreement concluded with the Hungarian Chamber of Doctors during the pandemic, Bence Retvari said. With the increase, a doctor starting a career will earn 687,000 forints (EUR 1,705) per month, a doctor with 21-25 years of professional experience 1.5 million and a senior professional with some 40 years of experience 2.38 million, he said.

The wages of nurses will be hiked in two phases, in July next year and in March in 2024, Retvari said. The increase will follow a 21-percent payrise in January this year.

The goal is to ensure that the average wages of nurses should reach 37 percent of a doctor’s average monthly wage by March 1 in 2024, in line with the average ratio in Europe, he said.

Retvari noted that the government had given the largest pay hikes in the health-care sector since taking power in 2010. Doctors earn five to nine times more and nurses three times more on average than before the change of government, he said.