Average salary in Spain is 500 euros lower than in the EU as a whole

The average gross salary of people in Spain amounts to just 1,822 euros per month, 21% less than the European average, new figures show.

Across the 27 countries of the European Union the average was 2,302 euros per month in 2022, according to the ninth Adecco Salary Monitor published on Monday 21 August. People in Spain earn 480 euros less per month on average than their European neighbours or, 5,760 euros less each year, the data shows.

But there are still 15 countries with lower average salaries than Spain, and 11 with higher remuneration, including the major European powers such as Italy, France and Germany. Spain is on par with the likes of Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus and Slovenia. Above Spain but slightly below the European average is Italy, with an average annual gross salary of 2,174 euros.

Other neighbours such as France are well above the Spanish salary, with an average of 2,574 euros per month, 750 euros more per month. Meanwhile, Portugal has an average salary 58% lower than the Spanish one, specifically the Portuguese salary is 1.154 euros per month.

The group of nine countries that enjoy average salaries of more than 2,600 euros per month are Sweden (2,604 euros/month), Finland (2,678), Austria (2,964), the Netherlands (2,964), Belgium (3,007), Ireland (3,051), Germany (3,148), Denmark (3,573) and Luxembourg (3,713), which ranks first in terms of average gross salary in Europe. At the lower end of the spectrum is Bulgaria, where the average salary is only 650 euros per month, followed by Romania (796) and Hungary (852).

"The above figures are equivalent to saying that the income earned by an average worker in Bulgaria after one year is similar to what an average employee in Spain earns in approximately four months. At the same time, to earn the same as an average worker in Romania after one year, a Spanish employee needs to work for approximately five months," Adecco pointed out.