European countries with the highest and lowest salaries
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Average annual wages across Europe continue to vary significantly, with workers in some countries earning more than five times the salaries paid in lower-income nations, according to the OECD’s Taxing Wages 2026 report.
The report, which examined 27 European countries including 22 EU member states, showed that annual gross average wages range from €18,590 in Turkey to €107,487 in Switzerland.
Switzerland remains the highest-paying country in Europe and the only nation where average annual wages exceed €100,000. Iceland follows with average earnings of €85,950, while Luxembourg ranks third overall and leads within the European Union at €77,844.
Denmark and the Netherlands complete the top five with average wages of €71,961 and €69,028 respectively. Norway also ranks among the continent’s top earners with an annual average salary of €68,420.
Among Europe’s five biggest economies, Germany records the highest average wage at €66,700, narrowly ahead of the United Kingdom at €65,340. However, the other major economies trail behind by a significant margin.
France reports average annual earnings of €45,964, while Italy stands at €36,594 and Spain at €32,678. Workers in Germany and the UK earn more than double the average salary recorded in Spain.
Several Northern and Western European countries also maintain relatively strong wage levels. Austria posts average earnings of €63,054, Belgium €62,348, Ireland €60,258, Finland €55,462, and Sweden €50,338.
At the lower end of the scale, Slovakia records the lowest annual average wage within the EU at €19,590. Overall, nine of the 22 EU countries included in the report have average wages below €30,000.
Hungary (€21,257), Latvia (€21,321), Czechia (€23,685), Portugal (€24,254), and Poland (€24,490) all fall below the €25,000 mark. Estonia (€25,603), Greece (€26,563), and Lithuania (€28,474) remain above that level but still under €30,000.
Experts from the International Labour Organization told Euronews Business that the large wage disparities across Europe are mainly driven by differences in productivity, economic structure, labour market systems, and living costs.
According to the experts, countries with strong finance and technology sectors generally offer higher wages, while strong trade unions and collective bargaining structures also contribute to better pay. They added that countries with higher living costs tend to record higher nominal wages as well.
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