Bangladesh has the third highest percentage of low-paid workers among South Asian nations after Sri Lanka and Bhutan, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) released yesterday.

The share of low-paid wage workers, meaning those whose hourly wage falls below 50 percent of the median hourly wage, among all the workers in Bangladesh is 11.2 percent.

Meanwhile, 25.9 percent of the workers in the island nation of Sri Lanka are low-paid while the ratio is 13.8 percent in the landlocked country of Bhutan, the UN agency said in its Global Wage Report 2024-25.

Among the South Asian countries, Pakistan has the lowest ratio of low-paid workers at 9.4 percent followed by India, said the report, which added that low-paid workers account for 11.5 percent of workers globally.

At the global level, women are overrepresented among low-paid wage workers, representing about half of the total. Migrants and workers in the informal economy also comprise a good portion of the low-paid wage workers, the report said.

"This overrepresentation of women among low-paid wage workers is observed in all country income groups," said the report, which found that wage inequality has decreased in about two-thirds of all countries since 2000.

The report also found that since the early 2000's, on average, wage inequality, which compares the wages of high and low wage earners, decreased in many countries.

The most significant decreases occurred among low-income countries while wage inequality is declining at a slower pace in wealthier countries.

Besides, global wages have been growing faster than inflation in recent times.

In 2023, real wages worldwide grew by 1.8 percent with projections anticipating 2.7 percent growth in 2024, the highest increase in more than 15 years.

"Such positive outcomes mark a notable recovery when compared to the negative global wage growth, of -0.9 percent observed in 2022, a period when high inflation rates outpaced nominal wage growth," it said.

However, wage growth has been uneven across regions, with emerging economies experiencing stronger growth than advanced economies.

While advanced G20 economies registered a decline in real wages for two consecutive years, real wage growth remained positive for both years in emerging G20 economies.

The ILO said regional wage growth patterns varied considerably.

"Wage workers in Asia and the Pacific, central and western Asia, and eastern Europe experienced their real wage increases at a faster rate than those in other parts of the world," it said.

"The return to positive real wage growth is a welcome development," said ILO Director-General Gilbert F Houngbo.

"However, we must not forget that millions of workers and their families continue to suffer from the cost-of-living crisis that has eroded their living standards and that wage disparities between and within countries remain unacceptably high," he added.

The ILO said globally, the lowest-paid 10 percent of workers earn just 0.5 percent of the global wage bill while the highest-paid 10 percent earn nearly 38 percent of this wage bill.

Wage inequality is the highest in low-income countries, with close to 22 percent of their wage workers classified as low-paid.

"Women and wage workers in the informal economy are more likely to be among the lowest paid. This finding reinforces the need for targeted actions to close wage and employment gaps and ensure fair wages for all wage workers."

ILO Economist Giulia De Lazzari, one of the main authors of the report, said "National strategies to reduce inequalities require strengthening wage policies and institutions."

"But equally important is to design policies that promote productivity, decent work and the formalisation of the informal economy."

The ILO emphasises the need for targeted policies to foster inclusive economic growth. It said reducing wage inequality requires both strong wage policies and structural support for equitable growth.

Wages should be set and adjusted through collective bargaining or agreed minimum wage systems involving governments, workers and employers.

"Wage policies should support gender equality, equity and non-discrimination," the ILO said.