G20 diplomatic pay rankings: US leads, China second-to-last, India among lower ranked countries

The US pays its home-based diplomats the best among 16 G20 countries with Beijing placing second to last, a study has found, adding, Asian countries, including India, were among the lower ranked.

According to a South China Morning Post report, International Intrigue, a media company created by former Australian diplomats, released a report on Wednesday which compared salaries of recently promoted mid-level diplomats working at their headquarters, adjusted for purchasing-power parity.

Among the major countries, American diplomats topped the list with an annual salary of $140,000, added the report.

Brazil, South Africa, France and Germany rounded out the top five, while China and Indonesia brought up the rear with salaries of $41,000 and $34,000 respectively.

Asian countries, including India, comprised five of the bottom eight analysed.

However, when ranked by how much salaries differed from the local median, India came out on top and the US slipped to third, with China still placed near the bottom at 12.

According to South China Morning Post, citing report’s authors Jeremy Dicker, John Fowler and Helen Zhang, the survey’s specific diplomatic profile was chosen to ensure a common base of comparison and limit variables like the perks that may come with overseas postings.

Their findings reflected interviews with diplomats, employee-union documents as well as open-source material like graduate-recruitment campaigns, online forums and presidential and ministerial decrees, added the report.

High inflation in Argentina and Turkey led to their exclusion from the analysis, while Russia was omitted due to inflation and its geopolitical stance following the 2022 Ukraine invasion.

Although pay wasn’t the primary reason for joining the foreign service, it was a major factor in diplomats’ departure, raising concerns about losing top talent amid ongoing global conflicts.

According to the report, citing the Uppsala Conflict Data Programme, as of 2023, 59 state-based armed conflicts were reported, the highest number since at least 1975.

Paul Sharp from the University of Minnesota Duluth told South China Morning Post that changing views on compensation have made it increasingly significant for diplomatic recruitment.

“In the past, the opportunity to represent one’s country was seen as more important than money,” South China Morning Post quoted Sharp as saying.

“But then you only got people to serve who didn’t need money – not good in a democratic age,” added Sharp.

“Now the pursuit of money is seen as important, almost honourable, and so competitive salaries are viewed as important by members of the recruitment pool,” said Sharp.

In the US, lucrative alternatives to a diplomatic career abound.

“If you’ve got somebody who’s talented enough to get into the foreign service, they’re also talented enough to get a job with McKinsey or Deloitte or Goldman Sachs, and the salary difference between Goldman Sachs and the State Department is huge,” South China Morning Post quoted Stephen Kelly, a former American diplomat who assisted with State Department recruitment, as saying.

Although Kelly, who retired in 2010, hadn’t seen colleagues leave solely due to pay, he noted the high cost of training diplomats.

“It’s very expensive to train diplomats,” he said. “In the case of the US, usually, by the time you get to be a mid-rank officer, you’ve been training in language, area studies, a lot of money has been invested in you.”

In absolute terms, the US outspends China on diplomacy, with about $61.5 billion allocated in the 2023 fiscal year, compared to China’s 57.031 billion yuan ($7.99 billion), which, despite being an increase, still falls short of pre-pandemic levels.

Even with better pay and a larger budget, the State Department had about 13 per cent of its positions unfilled, according to Richard Verma, US deputy secretary of state for management and resources.

Senate Foreign Relations committee chairman Ben Cardin highlighted that the US lacks ambassadors in 20 countries where China does.

Claus Soong of the Mercator Institute for China Studies told South China Morning Post that China’s low salary ranking does not necessarily reflect its diplomatic priorities or deter young talent.

“Now, under China’s economic downturn, more people want to get into the government because it’s stable,” Soong was quoted as saying.

Recent developments suggest China remains focused on diplomacy despite its inward-looking policies. China’s diplomats abroad received a rare pay rise this year, and Chinese officials stationed overseas were exempt from a planned 5 per cent staff reduction.

A Pew Research Centre survey from 2024 shows the US is viewed more favorably than not in 34 countries, while China is viewed more unfavorably in 35 countries. However, favorability ratings are more similar when comparing the two across low-income countries.

Experts emphasise the importance of investing in diplomacy, particularly for mid-level management.

“Professional diplomats set up the high-profile stuff and keep channels open when governments don’t want to be seen as talking for policy and political reasons,” said Sharp.

With inputs from agencies