The average Spanish salary has reached all-time highs in 2022, but despite this, it remains 20.9% below the European average. Where the EU average amounts to 2,302 euros per month as gross remuneration obtained before withholdings and without including extraordinary payments or overtime, that of the Spanish worker remains at 1,822 euros per month. In absolute terms it is a difference of 480 euros per month, which becomes 5,760 per year.
These are the data from the IX Adecco Monitor on Salaries, which establishes Spanish remuneration in the European context. In the Spanish case, salaries are in the European intermediate group. Despite being practically 21% below the average, it has 15 countries with lower average salaries, basically those of Eastern Europe, while it falls below 11 with higher salaries.
In terms of wages, in the European Union there are three large groups. In the lower zone, the worst paid are eleven countries that do not reach 1,200 euros per month as an average salary. The worst is Bulgaria, with 650 euros per month, followed by Romania, Hungary and other eastern countries. Portugal is also in this group, although in the highest area, already close to 1,200 euros.
In the intermediate group, with more than 1,200 euros and less than 2,600 is where Spain is located. In the upper zone of this group are both Spain, with the aforementioned 1,822 euros per month, below Italy, (2,174 euros/month) and France (2,574 euros).
Finally, there are nine countries with salaries above 2,600 euros per month, including Germany (3,148 euros/month), only surpassed by Denmark and Luxembourg. This group is more homogeneous than the previous two. Here the maximum difference does not reach 30% while in the other two, the difference between the extremes of the groups is doubled.
Focusing on the Spanish case, there are two significant comparisons. One is with Germany, with an average remuneration of 42.1% lower, which means that a Spanish worker needs to work almost 21 months to have an income similar to what a German employee gets in a year. The other comparison is with its close neighbours, in which Spain is left with an average salary 29.2% lower than that of France, and on the other hand, 57.8% higher than that of Portugal.
