Average salaries differ widely across Europe. The cost of living does too. So, which countries offer the highest pay? And how do salaries compare when adjusted for purchasing power standards?
Germany (€4,250) offers the highest average salary among the EU’s four largest economies, followed by France (€3,555). Both Italy (€2,729) and Spain (€2,716) were below the EU average by more than €400.
A better comparison here is the adjusted gross disposable income of households per capita in PPS (Purchasing Power Standards). The major difference to the salary figure is that the disposable income represents the total amount a household earns minus current taxes on income. This is essentially the amount of money people have ‘at their disposal’ as the name suggests.
This adjusted gross disposable income of households per capita in PPS in the EU shows a different picture. The EU average is at EUR 2,337 (compared to EUR 3,155 as Euronews’ salary), and the data is closer together than in Euronews’ salary report.
But as others have already said, even this is not very meaningful. If you want to compare the living standards of people, you can’t do this by using a single metric. You’ll need a dashboard of different measures AND I suggest that even then there may be factors that can’t be measured at all. The salary is only one -and, in my humble opinion, a very weak- measure and I’d agree with @Kennystillalive@feddit.org’s comment in this thread that it has “absolutely zero value for the average Joe.”
[Edit typo.]