The INE reveals that workers in the Basque Country, Madrid and Navarra have the best salaries, while those in Extremadura, Murcia and Andalusia have the lowest
The average monthly salary in gross terms of Spaniards was 2,086 euros in 2021, which represents an increase of 2.4% (48 euros more) than the previous year, according to data published this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in its reporting on salary deciles based on the Active Population Survey (EPA). Still, the increase is more moderate than last year, when it increased by 2.8% in 2020 compared to 2019.
But median salary is an indicator that sums up very different salaries from highest to lowest, so median salary – which ranks all individuals from lowest to highest salary and leaves half below said value and half above it – reflects reality more faithfully. In this sense, the median salary in Spain in 2021 was 1,757 euros gross per month, 330 euros less than the average salary but with an increase of 3% (50 euros) compared to the previous year.
The INE data also indicates that 6.64 million people in Spain earned between EUR 1,366 and EUR 2,342 gross per month in 2021, the largest group (40% of the total). Below 1,366 euros per month, 4.98 million people (30% of wage earners) remain in the low-wage zone and above 2,342 euros another 4.98 million people (30%) work.
The autonomous communities with the highest concentration of high wages were – in this order – the Basque Country, where 46% of wage earners earned more than 2,342 euros per month; the Community of Madrid (38.6%) and Navarre (37.6%). In the opposite direction, where the lowest percentage of employees with this salary level was Extremadura, where only 14.6% of employees earned more than EUR 2,342; Murcia (23%) and Andalusia (23.3%).
Similarly, the communities with the highest average salary were the Basque Country (2,453 euros), the Community of Madrid (2,368 euros) and Navarre (2,250 euros). On the contrary, the lowest average salaries were in Extremadura (1,633 euros), Andalusia (1,860 euros) and Murcia (1,875 euros).
INE’s data shows that women, young people, people with a lower level of education, part-time workers and agency workers have the lowest salaries in Spain.
For example, four in ten women received a salary of less than 1,366 euros per month, compared to two in ten men. In addition, their average salary in 2021 was 1,883.4 euros per month, compared to the 2,276.9 euros they received.
According to the INE, one of the reasons explaining this gender pay gap is the fact that women work more than men on part-time shifts, on temporary contracts and in lower paid industries.
Among young people under the age of 25, the percentage earning less than EUR 1,366.5 per month reaches 63%, a figure that drops to 24.6% among wage earners aged 55 or older.
In terms of the type of contract, 45.3% of employees with a temporary contract earned less than 1,366.5 euros in 2021, compared to 25% of permanent employees who were in the same situation.
The lowest wages were concentrated in the household activities domestic staff (858.1 euros), catering (1,225.8 euros) and agriculture (1,352.7 euros). According to INE, this is partly due to the higher share of part-time jobs and agency work in these sectors.
On the contrary, the highest remuneration was in the financial and insurance activities (on average 3,583.2 euros per month); electricity and gas supply (3,227.7 euros) and information and communication (2,822.2 euros).
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
