Average Salary in Zimbabwe

Table of Contents

How much does a Zimbabwean worker make?

In Zimbabwe, the average monthly wage is 217,000 ZWD. Monthly wages for some professions:

A waiter or waitress makes around 120,000 ZWD a month.
An elementary school teacher makes around 150,000 ZWD a month.
An engineer in Zimbabwe can make anywhere from 170 000 to 220 000 ZWD per month
A lawyer in Zimbabwe can make upwards of 250,000 ZWD per month.

The majority of workers (80%) in Zimbabwe are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which account for only 20% of GDP contribution but provide employment opportunities to 80% of the workforce in Zimbabwe.

Salary Distribution in Zimbabwe

Pay Scale

Monthly salaries start at 54,800 ZWD. Workers in the public sector earn the lowest salaries, while workers in the private sector earn slightly more. The highest-paid positions are those involved with Finance and Banking.

Workers who work independently such as contractors and consultants also earn higher than average salaries.

Median Wage

The median monthly wage in Zambia is 234,000 ZWD, which implies that half of the population earns less than 234,000 ZWD and the other half earns more than 234,000 ZWD each month.

Percentiles

25% of the population earns less than 130,000 ZWD per year, whereas 75% of the population earns more than 130,000 ZWD per year.

Additionally, according to the graphic, 75% of the population earns less than 649,000 ZWD, while 25% earns more than 649,000 ZWD every year.

Percentile is used to represent a value below which a certain percentage of observations in a group of observations fall. For example, the 50th percentile is the middle point where 50% of data points are at or below that point and 50% are above it.

What is the median vs average salary?

The median vs average salary can help companies determine their employees’ salaries. Salaries may be high or low because the company only pays its best people more money than its other employees, or because it has many very poorly paid workers to balance out higher payments for just one worker.

By knowing what another company’s median vs average salary is, companies can compare themselves against their industry competitors.

The median is the midpoint in a group of wages, while the average salary is calculated by adding up each worker’s salary and dividing it by how many people are employed.

The average salary can be higher than the median salary because there are few extremely high-paid workers on staff or low paid workers with less work experience that earn little money.

Salary Comparisons Based on Years of Experience

What is the progression of a person’s wage over time?

Wage increase over time as a worker gain experience in the same position.

As a person’s experience increases there is an expected increase in his or her income as well. In Zimbabwe, the salary range is from ZWD 1,000 to ZWD 5,000 per month and the median salary is about ZWD 3,500.

The earning potential of a particular job and its salary may vary according to experience and location (urban or rural). Some jobs are more in demand so they have higher salaries.

Most wages are determined by supply and demand in terms of scarcity for qualified workers. People who have college degrees generally earn more than those with high school diplomas.

This is the same in urban areas when compared to rural areas. If an individual lives close to cities that have many opportunities then their wage will be better than if one lived in a rural area that does not have many job opportunities in the labor marketplace.

Salary Comparisons Based on Education and Experience in Zimbabwe

What is the relationship between your education level and your salary?

There is an undeniable relationship between your education level and salary. The more money you make, the higher the degree required to enter that field is. A worker in Zimbabwe with a bachelor’s degree can earn as much as 7,961,800 ZWD a year.

This is compared to an individual with only a high school diploma earning as little as 735,300 ZWD. The salary difference can also be seen when individuals are looking for work.

High school graduates often have interesting and rewarding careers available to them that do not require advanced degrees.

For example, high school grads can become police officers or fire-fighters. High school graduates may also choose to join the Armed Forces and become officers that way.

Once you have finished college and received your bachelor’s degree, what is next?

The highest-paid positions after a bachelor’s degree are most commonly found in the medical field such as physicians and surgeons. These positions pay huge salaries of up to ZWD 14,631,500. After medical school comes the law firm.

Positions like lawyers and judges require at least a master’s degree and offer salaries around ZWD 11,556,000 to ZWD 12,257,600 per year.

Positions in management can also increase your earnings amount and offer salaries that range from 8,426,900 to 9,620,000 for managers of large enterprises or businesses.

Individuals who receive their doctorate degree enjoy even higher earnings than those with master’s degrees.

Gender Pay Gaps in the Workplace in Zimbabwe

Male workers in Zimbabwe earn an average of 13% more than their female colleagues across all industries on a per capita basis. This means that for every $1.00 earned by a male worker, female workers earn $0.87 (13% less).

Women in Zimbabwe are disadvantaged in their access to employment opportunities, unequal pay for equal work and poor advancement. There is therefore an under-representation of women in decision making positions in all sectors.

Education is the best way to fight this problem; it provides women with skills that can pave the way into better-paying jobs. And increased education also reduces fertility rates, lowers maternal mortality rates and so creates more time for women to gain experience at work.

The situation is worse for rural women who have less access to formal employment, with some forced into subsistence farming or commercial crop production on tiny plots of land. In these cases, women work long hours but remain the poorest of the poor in their communities.

Yearly Salary Increment Percentage in Zimbabwe

How much are yearly wage increases worth? How often do workers get raises in pay in Zimbabwe?

Employees in Zimbabwe are expected to have a wage rise of roughly 4% every 29 months, which is a significant gain over the previous year.

A survey conducted in Zimbabwe shows that an average worker will receive 29 months worth of salary increases for between one and two years of work.

Employees who hold managerial positions are likely to see larger gains during salary increases each year or two, as their roles require them to oversee additional responsibilities. These organizations will thus award their managers with a slightly larger increase.

In Zimbabwe, employees who perform well in their jobs over the course of a year will often receive a bonus in addition to their salary increases.

This bonus usually amounts to roughly a yearly salary increment percentage in Zimbabwe and is completely discretionary on the part of an employer’s management team.

Zimbabwean workers throughout various sectors report earning between 14% and 20% more each year than they did previously making this wage rise rate higher than most other countries across Africa.

Yearly Industrial Growth Rates in Zimbabwe

Banking – 9%
Education – 9%
Media – 9%
Manufacturing – 9%
Construction – 8%
Electricity & Water – 7%
Transportation – 6%
Healthcare – 5%
Finance – 9%

Businesses in flourishing industries have a tendency to provide greater and more frequent increases to their employees.

There are few exceptions, but, in general, the financial health of any firm is directly tied to the state of the economy of the nation or area in which it operates.

These data are subject to periodic change.

Average Pay Increase Rates by Experience in Zimbabwe

There is a direct correlation between experience and may increase rates. The more experienced you are, the more likely you will receive a raise.

In Zimbabwe, those with less than 1 year of experience will make between 361,900 ZWD and 440,000 ZWD. Those with 1 to 4 years of experience will make between 403,500 ZWD and 535,000 ZWD.

When it comes to being in the workforce for 6-9 years, the average pay increase is 546,100 ZWD. Employees that have been working in their field for 10+ years are making an average pay increase of 733,100 ZWD.

There also seems to be a trend showing higher salaries in the latter stages of one’s career. This could be attributed to more responsibility or management.

The following chart shows the average salary by experience:

Junior-Level – 361,900 ZWD – 440,000 ZWD
Mid-Level – 403,500 ZWD – 535,000 ZWD
Experienced- Level – 546,100 ZWD
Senior-Level – 733,100 ZWD

Rates of Bonuses and Incentive Payments in Zimbabwe

What is the amount and frequency with which bonuses are awarded?

Bonuses in Zimbabwe are an important part of the salary for professional and non-professional workers.

They are given as a bonus which means that they can be anything from cash, days taken off or any other thing that the business feels is a good incentive for their staff to push themselves further.

Bonuses usually range from 20% – 50% of one’s normal monthly payments depending on the company the individual works for.

There have been fluctuations in bonuses which depend highly on how businesses fare in Zimbabwe. In, the typical bonus is expected to be around 20%. In the same year, it was at 18.5% showing a slight increase from’s typical levels.

This demonstrates that the more businesses flourish, the bigger the bonuses they usually give their staff members making them more productive and giving them greater incentive to work harder for their companies.

The frequency of bonuses given in Zimbabwe on typical days has been variable throughout time depending on economic health and stability in the country.

Different Types of Bonuses

Individual Performance-Based Bonuses

This kind of bonus is for an individual and is based on how well they complete goals that are set for them.

An employee who reaches the goals set out by this bonus will receive it in addition to their regular compensation.

Performance-Based Bonuses

The performance-based bonus has been used for several years as an incentive to increase business results.

Some employers give bonuses quarterly or bi-annually, but others give these bonuses only when the company experiences exceptional growth and performs better than expected.

The latter means that reaching a predetermined level of success can result in a large one-time payment rather than smaller quarterly or semi-annual payments.

Goal-Based Bonus

Goal-based bonuses are performance-related bonuses where the actual amount is based on achieving goals set out by the company.

This type of bonus can be very effective for employees, but companies must ensure that they give realistic goals achievable in a reasonable amount of time.

Bonuses for Holidays and the End of the Year

Holiday or year-end bonuses are given to employees, typically as a cash payment.

While holiday bonuses are normally given at the end of the year or around Christmas time, end-of-year bonuses are typically given in lieu of an additional paycheque during the last pay period of the year.

The amount varies from company to company and can even depend on an individual’s performance.

Bonus Rates in Different Career Fields

What distinguishes a job as deserving of generous incentives and a high salary?

Certain jobs may be deemed more important and valuable than others.

Jobs that require highly specialist skills or extensive years of training and education tend to pay higher salaries because they are considered hard to replace, hold greater responsibilities, and require a large degree of expertise

In some career fields, the amount of incentive or salary one receives tends to depend on their level of responsibility.

In Zimbabwe, for example, doctors and lawyers each have their own minimum salaries. For a doctor, the least amount of money earned for a year is 289,520 ZWD.

Lawyers, on the other hand, are paid at least 458,800 ZWD per year. This is to compensate them for their years of education and expertise in law.

Seniority-Based Bonuses in Zimbabwe

Seniority is bonuses that are paid based on the employee’s length of service with an organization, rather than on their performance. This is a benefit in Zimbabwe where there is high unemployment and also people are employed on short-term contracts.

The Seniority-Based Bonuses are an important part of personnel policy in Zimbabwe where job security is so important. The bonuses are usually given towards the end of employment before someone leaves, though sometimes it is done at staff parties or other social functions.

Sometimes they can be very substantial amounts of money, depending of course on the size of the company and how much money it has available to pay out seniority-based bonuses.

Salary Ranges for Popular Professions

Architecture

Architect – 272,000 ZWD
CAD Drafter – 113,000 ZWD

Banking

Bank Branch Manager – 398,000 ZWD
Teller – 78,600 ZWD

Business Planning

Business Analyst – 265,000 ZWD
Business Development Manager – 326,000 ZWD
Project Manager – 236,000 ZWD

Civil Engineering

Civil Engineer – 335,000 ZWD
Geotechnical Engineer – 398,000 ZWD
Construction Project Manager – 266,000 ZWD
Quantity Surveyor – 368,000 ZWD

Electrical Engineering

Electrical Engineer – 438,000 ZWD
Field Service Manager – 263,500 ZWD

Production/Manufacturing Management

Manufacturing Manager – 397,400 ZWD
Quality Assurance Manager – 243,300 ZWD
Shipping/Receiving Clerk – 55,600 ZWD
Sales Representative – 294,800 to 508.850

Bilingual

Sales Representative – 518,000 ZWD
General/Corporate Sales Representative – 249,000 ZWD

Marketing Management

Marketing Director – 256,800 ZWD
Digital Marketing Manager – 482.500 ZWD
Product Marketer – 270,000 to 441,700 ZWD

Healthcare

Pharmacist – 135,000 ZWD
Nurse Manager – 152,000 ZWD
Registered Nurse – 99,000 ZWD
Market Research Analyst – 410,500 to 675.200 ZWD

Hospitality/Tourism

Reservation Clerk – 78,600 ZWD
Hotel Front Desk Officer – 506.100-700.850 ZWD
Hotel Receptionist – 115,800-128,650 ZWD
Tour Guide – 90,250-115,850 ZWD

Zimbabwe’s Hourly Wage

In Zimbabwe, the average hourly salary (or compensation per hour) is 1,250 ZWD (about $1.25 USD). The median wage for an hour worked in 2009 is about 2,500 ZWD. The minimum legal hourly wage in Zimbabwe is 1,000 ZWD.

The hourly wage in Zimbabwe has been a subject of dispute. In, the hourly wage is expected to be 5,200 ZWD per hour. Take note that the hourly wage may differ depending on the location and/or job industry.

Salary Comparison Between the Public and Private Sectors in Zimbabwe

Across all sectors, public sector workers in Zimbabwe earn an average of 25% more than their private-sector colleagues on an annual basis.

In, the public sector earned around ZWD 390 000 per annum while the private sector earned around ZWD 310 000.

The largest gaps between public and private salaries were found in finance, transport and mining, where public workers take home an average of 36% more than their private-sector counterparts.

In other sectors such as construction and wholesale and retail trade, the gap was narrower at 10%.

Public sector workers earn more because they tend to be paid for overtime hours; however, when compared hourly wages it was discovered that public employees do not make significantly higher wages than those in the private sector.