Salaries in Europe continue to show profound differences between countries, especially when comparing not only what companies pay, but also what actually reaches the worker after taxes and contributions. It is this reading that helps to better understand the weight of work and discounts in each economy.
According to data released by, based on recent figures from Eurostat, Luxembourg, a country where close to 100,000 Portuguese people live, leads the table of average net hourly wages in Europe, with 49.7 euros, followed by Iceland, Norway and Denmark. On the opposite side, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria appear, with the lowest values.
For Portugal, the picture is much less favorable. Official data from Eurostat show that, in 2024, a single worker without children and with an average salary had annual net earnings of 16,946.92 euros, a value clearly below the European Union (EU) average of 29,572.68 euros, and also the euro zone average of 32,347.23 euros.
The distance in relation to the best paid countries is also seen in another indicator. In terms of median gross hourly wages, Portugal appeared in 2022 among the lowest values in the EU, with 6.2 euros per hour, just above Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary in the highlights made by Eurostat.
Eastern Europe accelerates faster
Between 2021 and 2025, the largest increases in net wages were recorded in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. On the contrary, Norway, Sweden and Italy had much more modest growth, while Germany, France and Spain were below the European average reported by the same source.
This means that there are countries recovering ground, but the highest salaries continue to be concentrated in the richest North and center of Europe. In the Portuguese case, the data shows that the country remains far from this group when looking at the disposable income of workers.
Weight of discounts also counts
The European comparison is not just made based on what goes into the account at the end of the month. In 2025, the average hourly labor cost was €34.9 in the EU and €38.2 in the euro area, with Luxembourg at the top and Bulgaria at the opposite end. According to Eurostat, non-wage costs, such as social contributions borne by employers, represented on average 24.8% of the total cost of labor in the EU and 25.6% in the eurozone.
In Portugal, the OECD indicates that the so-called tax wedge, which combines income tax and contributions paid by employee and employer, was 39.4% for a single worker with an average salary in 2024, above the OECD average of 34.9%. Even so, this worker’s net salary corresponded to 75% of his gross salary.
For the Portuguese, the conclusion is clear: Portugal remains below the European averages when looking at the annual net salary (after taxes) and remains far from the countries that top the income table. At the same time, the data reminds us that the debate about salaries does not only depend on the gross salary, but also on the weight of deductions and the total cost of work.
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