OECD Puts Europe’s Average Wages at €18,590-€107,487 as PPP Reorders the Rankings
Updated
Updated · Euronews · May 15
OECD Puts Europe’s Average Wages at €18,590-€107,487 as PPP Reorders the Rankings
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · May 15
OECD’s 2026 Taxing Wages report put 2025 annual gross average pay in 27 European countries between €18,590 in Turkey and €107,487 in Switzerland, with Luxembourg leading the EU at €77,844.
Purchasing-power adjustments narrowed the gap to 38,118-106,532 and reshuffled positions: Turkey jumped nine places to 18th, while Germany rose five spots to second behind Switzerland.
Germany and the UK led Europe’s five biggest economies in nominal pay at €66,700 and €65,340, far ahead of France at €45,964, Italy at €36,594 and Spain at €32,678.
Nine of the 22 EU countries in the sample stayed below €30,000, with Slovakia the bloc’s lowest at €19,590, underscoring a persistent north-west versus south-east wage divide.
ILO experts cited productivity, economic structure, labour-market institutions and living costs as the main drivers, while warning that net pay can differ sharply because tax systems vary.
With some salaries lower, why is European disposable income sometimes double that of the US?
With real wages falling even in top economies, can artificial intelligence reverse the trend?
Are a few powerful firms suppressing wages more than low productivity or weak unions?