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WT/BFA/W/542  
 
24 February 202 1 
(21-1528) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
2021 WTO SALARY SURVEY AND DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCES: CUMULATIVE MOVEMENT 
OF THE WTO SALARY SCALE IN 2018, 2019 , 2020  AND 2021  
1.  The purpose of this paper is to provide the Committee with information about the annual salary 
survey, which leads to no adjustment of the WTO salary scale for 202 1.  
2.  In addition, the paper provides information on the cumulative movement of the salary scale in 
2018, 2019 , 2020 and 2021 in relation to the new adjustment mechanism of the dependency 
allowances. The 2% threshold was not reached following the initial 3 -year period and consequently 
no adjustment w as made to the dependency allowances on 1 January 2021. The cumulative 
movement of the WTO salary scale for the period 2018-2021 stand s at +0.6 %. 
1  SALARY SURVEY  
3.  In accordance with the Salary Adjustment Methodology, set out in Annex B of the Staff 
Regulations (see Appendix 1), the 202 1 salary survey has been carried out comparing WTO salaries 
with those of the market comparators, the United Nations and the Coordin ated Organizations.  
4.  In order to determine the adjustment to be made to the WTO Salary Scale each year, the WTO 
salary levels, at the midpoint in each grade, are compared to the international midpoint salary levels 
in the two comparators, the United Nation s (Geneva salary levels) and the Coordinated Organizations 
(Paris salary levels converted to Swiss Francs). A 70% weight is applied to the United Nations salary 
levels, with the remaining 30% weight placed on the Coordinated Organizations salary levels.  
5.  The background relating to the introduction of the current methodology1 in 2004 is contained in 
document WT/BFA/64. Appendix 1 to this document provides further elaboration on the technical 
details of the methodology.  
6.  In 202 1, professional salary levels in  the United Nations (70% of the weight) remained 
unchanged following a 1. 9% increase to the base salary scale and an equal reduction to the post 
adjustment factor on a "no gain no loss basis". United Nations salaries for staff in the General Service 
catego ry in Geneva remained unchanged . 
7.  Salaries in the Coordinated Organization (30% of the weight) increased by 3.4% effective 
1 January 202 1. 
8.  Following the salary adjustments in the comparator organizations, including a reduction in the  
PPP/NER conversion factor in the case of the Coordinated Organizations, the application of the 
methodology indicates , however,  that no adjustment of the WTO salary scale should be made for 
2021. 
9.  The 202 1 salary scale, unchanged from 2019, is set out in Ta ble 1 below.  
 
 
1 Prior to the introduction of this methodology, salary adjustments were based the movement of the 
Swiss COLA compared to the movements of civil service pay in five countries (France, Germany, Japan, UK and 
US). WT/BFA/W/542  
 
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  Table 1 2021 WTO salary scale (unchanged from 2020) 
 
Grade  Range  
Minimum  Maximum  
1 50,735  69,141  
2 55,292  75,370  
3 60,254  82,122  
4 65,729  89,585  
5 71,925  98,019  
6 78,768  107,357  
7 90,472  123,305  
8 113,639  151,641  
9 135,005  174,946  
10 160,669  195,077  
11 188,883  215,195  
12 206,007  224,265  
ADG 236,344  236,344  
DDG 256,054  256,054  
 
2  ADJUSTMENT OF THE DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCES: CUMULATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE 
WTO SALARY SCALE IN 2018, 2019 , 2020  AND 2021 . 
10.  In accordance with Annex 2 of the WTO Staff Rules, the WTO dependency allowances shall be 
adjusted, upwards or downwards and subject to a 2% threshold being reached,  every three years 
based on the cumulative movement of the official WTO salary scale. If the threshold of 2% is not 
reached in any given three -year period, no adjustment shall be made and the dependency 
allowances shall be reviewed after a further three -year period and adjusted, subject to reaching the 
2% threshold, based on the cumulative movement of the salary scale during the period since the 
last periodic adjustment.  
11.  The first such adjustment was considered for 1 January 2021, based on the cumulative a verage  
grade weighted movement of the WTO salary scale between 2018 and 2020. However, the 2% 
threshold was not reached and consequently, no adjustment was made to the dependency 
allowances on 1 January 2021. Following the -1.17% adjustment of the WTO sala ry scale in 2018, 
the +1.78% adjustment in 2019 and the 0% adjustment s in 2020  and 2021 , the cumulative 
movement of the WTO salary scale for the four-year period stands at +0.6%.  
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 WT/BFA/W/542  
 
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  Appendix 1: WTO Salary Scale – Method of Annual Adjustment  
Pursuant to Staff Regulation  6.2, the WTO salary scale shall be adjusted according to the 
following method:   
 
The WTO salary scale shall be adjusted annually on 1 January through a comparison of WTO 
international salaries with the salary scales effective on 1 January in a basket of comparators.   The 
comparators shall be the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) a nd the Coordinated Organisations 
[1] (CO).   The relative weighting of the comparators shall be 70% for the United Nations and 30% 
for the Coordinated Organisations.   
 
The salaries of the comparators shall be measured at the mid -point of each of the grades that 
have been determined by the Director -General, and reported to the Committee on Budget, Finance 
and Administration and the General Council, to be equivalent to grades 1 through 12, ADG and DDG 
in the WTO.     
 
The international salary scales of the Coor dinated Organisations shall be converted to a 
Geneva base using a 50/50 mix of Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) and one -year average of Nominal 
Exchange rates (NER).   For UNOG, the Swiss franc salary scales (P and GS) shall be used.   PPP/NER 
data used for t he purposes of the comparison shall be the most recent data available.   
 
The grade -weighted average difference between the WTO salary scale and the comparator 
salary scales shall then be determined [2], and the WTO salary scale adjusted on average 
accordin gly, provided that the resulting overall payroll increase shall not exceed the corresponding 
payroll -weighted average difference between the WTO salary scale and comparator salary scales.   In 
applying the adjustment, the Director -General shall take account  of the need to maintain 
competitiveness of all grades with the salaries in the comparators and shall report his decision to 
the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration.   
Data sources     
Comparator salary scales  Salary scales for UNOG (Swiss franc salaries for UN staff in Geneva) and the 
Coordinated Organisations effective 1 January for the year in question.  
Purchasing Power Parities 
(PPP)  PPP provided by the Coordinated Organisations for the adjustment of salaries 
of international staff.  
Nominal Exchange Rate 
(NER)  One-year average of UN operational exchange rates  
  
 
[1] The Coordinated Organisations comprise the following international organizations:   North Atlantic 
Treaty Organization (NATO), Council of Europe, European Space Agency (ESA), European Centre for Medium 
Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the OECD.   The sca le used for the CO will be based on a weighted 
average of any change to the CO salary scale as implemented by the constituent organizations of the CO.   
[2] The grade -weighted average refers to the average difference in salaries weighted by the percentage 
of WTO staff in grades 1 to 12, ADG and DDG.  
 
 
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