Statistics Explained

Archive:Earnings statistics at regional level

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Data from March 2010, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article presents recent data on earnings in the European Union (EU), down to the level of NUTS 1 regions, based on the Structure of earnings survey (SES). The SES, one of the cornerstones of the European system of structural surveys in the business sector, is a sample survey conducted every four years; it delivers anonymised microdata linking information on businesses with the individual characteristics of their employees.

Map 1: Mean hourly gross earnings in industry and services (NACE Rev. 1.1 C to K), by NUTS 1 regions, 2006 (EUR per employee)

Although Eurostat has been collecting regional data in this domain at NUTS 1 level for several years, most online tables break down the data only by country. A systematic breakdown by region of the already detailed data would result in huge tables with a high percentage of cells marked as confidential for reasons of statistical secrecy.

Main statistical findings

Gross hourly earnings

In 2006 the average gross hourly earnings across EU-27 in businesses with ten or more employees in manufacturing and market services (i.e. Sections C to K of the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community - NACE Rev. 1.1) amounted to EUR 9.90 per hour worked. There are considerable differences between the regions of Europe, however.

Map 1 clearly shows the substantial regional differences in earnings per hour worked in industry. At EUR 28.70 per hour worked, the London region shows the highest average earnings in the EU. They are 28 times the average earnings in Severna I Iztochna (BG - see country codes), at EUR 1.00 the region with the lowest earnings per hour worked. The figures for the ten regions with the highest average earnings per hour worked are as follows: Norway at EUR 23.90, Denmark at EUR 23.10, the South-East region (UK) at EUR 21.00 and Île de France (FR) at EUR 19.70, followed by the Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (BE) at EUR 19.50, Hamburg (DE) at EUR 19.1, Hessen (DE) at EUR 19.00, East of England (UK) at EUR 18.90, and lastly Ireland and the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg at EUR 18.80 and 18.60 respectively per hour worked.
The lowest average gross earnings, averaging less than EUR 4 per hour worked, are found in the following ten regions or countries: Dunántúl (HU), Turkey, Alföld és Észak (HU), Lithuania, Latvia, all four major regions of Romania and the Bulgarian regions of Yugozapadna I Yuzhna Tsentralna and Severna I Iztochna. These are regions of Member States which recently joined the European Union and of one candidate country.

Map 2: Gross annual earnings in industry and services (NACE Rev. 1.1 C to K), by NUTS 1 regions, 2006 (EUR per employee)

Gross annual earnings

In 2006 the average gross annual earnings across EU-27 amounted to EUR 29 400, but there were significant regional differences. Map 2 shows the regional differences in average gross annual earnings per employee in manufacturing and market services within the European Union. It should be noted that gross annual earnings include extraordinary payments, which are not included in the hourly earnings described above. Annual earnings include, for example, thirteenth and fourteenth month wages and salaries, productivity bonuses, profit shares and payments in kind.

The regions or countries with the highest hourly earnings, in descending order, are London, Iceland, Norway and Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (BE), whereas those with the highest annual earnings are London, Norway, Denmark and the South East (UK). A comparison of Maps 1 and 2 clearly illustrates this difference where certain regions are concerned. In 2006 the London region (UK) was the absolute leader with an average gross annual earnings rate of EUR 72 000, followed by the Belgian regions of Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest and Vlaams Gewest, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the three German Länder Baden-Württemberg, Hessen and Hamburg, Denmark, the regions of Île de France (FR), West-Nederland (NL) and East of England (UK), and Ireland, all showing figures of over EUR 40 000. Average gross annual earnings in the Nordic countries of Iceland and Norway amount to more than EUR 47 000.

At the other end of the scale, average earnings are less than EUR 10 000 per year in the Bulgarian regions of Severna I Iztochna and Yugozapadna I Yuzhna Tsentralna, in all regions of Romania, in Lithuania and Latvia, in the Hungarian regions of Alföld és Észak and Dunántúl, and in Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

Living costs, national legislation and national and regional customs concerning working time, which can also vary from one sector of activity (hotels and restaurants, transport, construction) to another, are disregarded here, as are the average annual hours worked, which are also affected by the prevailing economic situation (full order books on the one hand, or short-time working and plant closures on the other).

Map 3: Annual bonuses as % of annual earnings in industry and services (NACE Rev. 1.1 C to K), by NUTS 1 regions, 2006 (%)

Annual bonuses as a percentage of annual earnings

Map 3 gives an idea of the shares of bonuses and extraordinary allowances in gross annual earnings in industry and services in the various regions in 2006 . This comparison too must be seen against the background of the specific economic, social and cultural circumstances. There is a fairly obvious north-south divide. The average shares of bonuses in annual earnings are relatively low in the northern Member States, at 7.5%, for example in Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Aland region of Finland) and in Iceland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (DE), Poland and Estonia. In the south, only Malta and the Macroregiunea doi region of Romania show relatively low average bonus percentages.

The ten regions with the highest shares of bonuses and extraordinary allowances (over 15.0%) in gross annual earnings within the EU include all seven regions of Spain, above all the Comunidad de Madrid (17.9%), the Portuguese region of Continente, the Greek region of Attiki and all three regions of Austria.

Figure 1 allows a more differentiated view of regional shares of bonuses in gross annual earnings by economic activity. Here, for example, the energy and water supply sector, mining and quarrying, and specialist service companies in the financial sector, with relatively high bonus and allowance shares, and economic activities such as construction and hotels and restaurants, which are known to have relatively low bonus and allowance shares, are shown separately. Most of the ten highest bonus share percentages (between 21% and 29%) are found in the financial intermediation branch and in the southern European regions (all seven regions of Spain and the Continente (PT), Alföld és Észak (HU) and London (UK) regions). When expressed in absolute values, however, the highest annual bonuses in this branch tend to be awarded in regions and countries which also have significant financial centres (all at more than EUR 13 000 per year). This is especially true of London (UK) at an average of over EUR 60 000, Hessen (DE), Ostösterreich (AT), Luxembourg and Iceland and the Comunidad de Madrid region (ES3).

Figure 1: Regional divergences of annual bonuses as % of annual earnings, EU-27, 2006 (%)

The online database also shows multidimensional tables on earnings at national level (hourly and annual earnings, overtime payments, bonuses and allowances) broken down by further employee-related characteristics (e.g. occupational group, age group, gender, length of service, contractual working hours, employment contract, collective agreement) and by economic branch, size of company and economic control over the business.

Conclusion

The above description gives no more than an initial insight into the Structure of earnings survey. No attempt is made here to interpret the data using the many explanatory variables in the Eurostat online database. Interested readers may, however, wish to search through Eurostat's extensive database according to their field of interest.

Data sources and availability

The source of information on regional earnings down to NUTS Level 1 is the EU Structure of earnings survey (SES). This survey is conducted every four years on the basis of Regulation 530/1999 and Regulation 1738/2005.

The aim of this legislation is to make exact and comparable data on earnings in the EU Member States, the EFTA countries and the candidate countries available for policy and scientific purposes. The SES is a large-scale sample survey of businesses yielding detailed information on the relationships between the level of earnings (hourly and annual earnings, overtime payments, annual bonuses), the individual characteristics of employees (gender, age, length of service, occupation, level of education, contractual working hours etc.) and the employer (branch of the economy, size and location of the business etc.).

The survey's population comprises all enterprises with ten or more employees. Although in 2002 the scope of the survey was extended for the first time to the sectors M (Education), N (Health and social work) and O (Other community, social and personal service activities), we have confined ourselves here to sectors C to K, i.e. manufacturing and "market" services, in the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 1.1).

It should be noted that earnings data are available only at national level for Poland, Sweden (data on annual earnings and bonuses only), Turkey and Norway. The same goes for a number of smaller Member States, where the NUTS 1 level corresponds to the whole country: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia. No earnings data are reported for France's overseas departments. Data for Iceland and Norway are also available (here, too, the statistical region at NUTS 1 Level corresponds to the whole country).

Eurostat publishes the most important data from the 2006 Structure of earnings survey in tabular form on the Eurostat website in the Labour Market Statistics section under the Structure of Earnings Survey 2006 (earn_ses06) heading.

Eurostat also provides anonymised microdata sets from the Structure of Earnings Survey in its Safe Centre.

It should be stressed here that the current legal framework allows access to the anonymised SES microdata available at Eurostat only for scientific purposes under special conditions and with due regard for statistical secrecy (see Access to microdata).

Context

Wages and salaries are a major part of the production costs for goods and services and largely correspond to the costs borne by the employer for employing staff. From the employee's point of view they are usually the main component of disposable income. The amount of the earnings depends not only on business-related factors (such as the branch of the economy, the size of the business and the existence of a collective agreement), but also on employee-related characteristics (gender, age, level of education, occupational group, length of service and working hours). The cost of living in a country or region is a further factor influencing the actual amount of earnings. Regional hourly and annual earnings are set out below in euros. In the online database the data are available in national currency; they are also given in purchasing-power standards, but only at national level.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Database

Earnings
Database
Earnings (earn)
Structure of earnings survey 2002 (earn_ses)
Structure of earnings survey 2006 (earn_ses06)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)

Methodology / Metadata

Other information

  • Regulation 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs
  • Regulation 1738/2005 of 21 october 2005 amending Regulation 1916/2000 as regards the definition and transmission of information on the structure of earnings

See also

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