Peter Brown
PAYdata Blog, 03 February 2011

Keeping true to our name, we at PAYdata have a keen interest in both pay and data.  Normally we spend our time analysing the data to find what is happening in the UK, in Europe and, increasingly, in the Middle East.

So far this year has not brought much good economic news.  Last week saw the publication of the UK GDP estimate for the final quarter of 2010 and it was gloomy news as the economy contracted by 0.5%.  The week before the UK CPI measure of inflation jumped to 3.7% and UK unemployment nudged a smidgeon short of 2.5 million or around 7.9%.

So, by way of a contrast, let us consider another country where the economic news might sound a little less familiar.

This country’s GDP grew a staggering 10.3% in 2010, up from 9.2% in the previous year.  Inflation, just as in the UK, is a concern.  In December 2010 it eased slightly down from a 28-month high of 5.1% to 4.6% but this was still higher than most forecasters had expected.  Having said that, retail sales were up by 14.8% over 2009, even after taking out the impact of inflation.

Unemployment is little difficult to get a handle on in this country but back in September 2010 it was estimated to be around 4.1%.  As for pay, well this country does not have a national minimum rate, preferring to set rates locally according to central government standards.  In the capital city the minimum rate increased by 20% in 2010 to roughly £1,097 a year, somewhat below the UK’s £5.93 an hour.

Some other interesting data for this country.  Investment in construction and fixed assets rose 23.8% last year, whilst land sales to property developers increased by 70% with a resultant 6.4% rise in property prices.  Oh, and the population is over 21 times larger than the UK’s.

No prizes for guessing that this data, sounding so foreign to us in Britain, relates to a country on the other side of the world.  A world away, but its influence becomes closer by the day. 

Happy Chinese New Year!

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