Wages in Italy grow at half the European average. Even Spain earns more now

Brussels -In 2024, the average annual full-time salary in the EU was a gross EUR 39,800, a 5.2 percent increase from EUR 37,800 in 2023. Another blow for Italy, where, in the same period, wages increased by 2.6 percent, exactly half the EU average, from 32,650 euros to 33,523 euros. And so, among the Mediterranean countries (those in the North are on a different level), 2024 marked Madrid’s overtaking: wages in Spain are growing by 4.4 percent annually to reach an average of 33,700 euros.

 Among the 27, Luxembourg has the highest average annual salary, with employees earning an average of EUR 83,000 gross, followed by Denmark (EUR 71,600) and Ireland (EUR 61,100). Just off the podium is Belgium, where the average salary is EUR 59,632. Lower down are Bulgaria, Greece, and Hungary, where full-time employees earn an average of EUR 15,400, EUR 18,000, and EUR 18,500, respectively. 

The snapshot from Eurostat is strikingly similar to the one from previous years. Wage inequalities among EU member states now appear entrenched. In fact, a worrying trend persists: often, the countries where people earn the most are also those where wages grow the fastest. And Italy is losing ground to almost everyone. In Denmark, wages grew by 5.1 percent, in Germany by 5.2 percent, and in Austria by 7 percent. At the other end of the scale, in Romania, wages increased by 14.3 percent, while in Malta, which has now caught up with Italy, with an average salary of EUR 33,499, they increased by 6.71 percent. 

Looking at the increases, it is clear that Italy is moving slowly. Close to us, besides Spain and Malta, wages in Slovenia increased by 5.8 percent, and in Croatia, even by 7.6 percent. Only France, where the average salary in 2024 stood at EUR 43,709, performed worse, with a growth rate of 2.3 percent.