Compare the salary you earn with that of a worker in Luxembourg and it is likely that the difference left you speechless. Europe is a continent that shares a currency, a single market and open borders, but where salaries tell very different stories depending on the country. where you live and work.
Visual Capitalist has prepared a graph that represents the weighted salaries of different countries in Europe based on the most recent data from Eurostat and the oecd. The graph shows an uncomfortable reality. Despite sharing many common regulatory elements, within the European Union, the average annual salary can be multiplied by more than five depending on the country in which you live.
A simple graph, but it reflects a reality sculpted by decades of economic, historical and geopolitical differences.
A stocking that is not what it seems
Before going into figures, it is worth understanding what exactly Eurostat measures when talking about salary in this map.
The indicator used by Eurostat and the OECD to compile this statistic is called “adjusted average full-time salary per employee” and does not reflect what most workers earn. In reality, what it represents is a weighted average that takes the total salaries paid in a country and divides it by the number of full-time equivalent employees.
In other words, if many workers in a country work part-time, those hours are converted to their full-time equivalent before calculating the average.
That means that the resulting number tends to be higher than the most common salary in that country, the one received by the real majority of workers. Although it is not a “literal” representation of what the majority of the country’s workers earn, this data is a useful tool for comparing countries with each other. However, it must be taken for what it is: a statistical photograph, not the exact reflection of the salary you receive at the end of the month.
The countries in which they charge the most
In 2024, the adjusted average annual full-time salary in the European Union stood at 39,800 euros. That represents an increase of 5.2% compared to 37,800 euros registered in 2023. Above that average the same names as always stand out clearly.
Luxembourg tops the European ranking with an average annual full-time salary of almost 83,000 euros, driven by its powerful financial and technology sector. In fact, the Grand Duchy not only has the highest salaries in Europe, they are also from the world.
Iceland occupies second place with just over 77,000 euros annually, and Switzerland is in third with 75,100 euros, also being the country with the largest population among the first three. Next, the Scandinavians Denmark and Norway appear with 71,600 euros and 64,025 euros respectively, completing the leading group.
A simple glance is enough to realize that the Nordic and Western European countries clearly dominate the top of the table. Belgium, Austria, Germany and Finland also exceed the European average of 39,800 euros, while the Scandinavian countries maintain a constant presence among the best paid thanks to its collective bargaining models and its robust welfare states.
The gap between East and West
The graph of Visual Capitalist A fracture that separates the west and north from the east and south of the continent is evident, at least as far as salaries are concerned.
At the lower end of the ranking are Bulgaria, with salaries of just 15,387 euros per year, Greece with 17,954 euros and Hungary with 18,461 euros. Poland, another large economy in the Eastern European bloc, records an average of 21,246 euros per year.
The salary gap between Luxembourg and Bulgaria exceeds 67,500 euros annually, a gap that is no coincidence. The legacy of the Soviet bloc left weakened economies decades behind in investment, productivity and industrial infrastructure. Although countries such as Poland and the Baltic States have closed the gap by modernizing their economies in recent years, the Actual convergence with the west remains a slow process.
Spain: above average… in the south
Spain occupies an intermediate salary position, although it remains below the EU salary average. In 2024, the adjusted average full-time salary reached 33,700 euros gross per year, which represents an increase of 4.6% compared to the 32,216 euros recorded in 2023.
Still, that number is 6,100 euros below the European average of 39,800 euros, and a considerable distance from Germany, which reaches 53,751 euros, or France with 43,790 euros annually.
Where Spain does maintain a relatively comfortable position is in comparison with its southern European neighbors. For example, it surpasses Italy (33,523 euros), Portugal (24,818 euros) and clearly distances itself from Greece and Bulgaria.
The sustained growth of Minimum Interprofessional Wage In recent years it has contributed to raise the salary floor since Spain will not remain in the rear of the eurozone economies, although the distance with the countries of the north and west is still notable.
In Xataka | Good news, salaries in Spain are rising: the problem is that if you are young you probably don’t know it
Image | Visual Capitalist
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