Would you believe me if I told you that New Zealand's average annual wage is currently $58,000?

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says since 2008, the annual average wage has increased by 25 per cent to $58K – more than twice the rate of inflation.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says New Zealand's average annual wage has risen by 25 per cent to $58,000 since 2008. File Photo.

'Delivering a stronger economy for Kiwi families remains front and centre of the Government's busy work programme, and it is helping to drive up incomes across the country.”

A combination of rising wages, reduced taxes on income and savings, and low inflation has seen take home pay increasing at four times the rate than under the previous Government, at 2.2 per cent per annum, says Steven.

Steven goes further, saying that between 1999 and 2008 take home pay did increase, but nearly all the gains were taken away by inflation before adding that under Labour, take home pay after inflation increased at less than 0.5 per cent a year.

While the latest Household Labour Force Survey shows 327,000 jobs have been created since the lowest point of the Global Financial Crisis and those not in employment, education or training was 10.7 per cent – the lowest since September 2008.

'The low inflation environment means that although nominal wage increases are modest, real wage increases are higher than usual. Most wage growth is going into the back pockets of families, rather than being eaten up by cost of living increases,” says Steven.

'Compare that with when we first took office, wages had increased by 5.1 per cent in the previous year, but that was completely offset by rampant inflation also at 5.1 per cent.”