ACRONYMS National Statistics Institute
23 September 2024

Wage Structure Survey

Year 2022. Final Data

Main results

  • The average annual salary was 26,948.87 euros per worker in 2022, 4.1% higher than that of the previous year. That for women was 24,359.82 euros and that for men was 29,381.84.
  • The economic activity with the highest annual remuneration was Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with 55,470.69 euros. In contrast, wage-earners in Accommodation and food service activities had the lowest average earnings, with 16,274.71 euros.
  • The annual salary of Directors and managers (59,478.63 euros) was 120.7% higher than the average. The annual salary of Basic Occupations was 17,017.06 euros, 39.9% below the average.
  • The autonomous community with the highest average annual salary was País Vasco (32,313.73 euros). At the other end of the spectrum, Extremadura had the lowest (21,922.73 euros).

Average annual earnings per worker were 26,948.87 euros in 2022, which is 4.1% higher as compared with the previous year. One feature of the functions of wage distribution is that many more workers were registered in the lowest values than in the highest salaries. This results in the average wage being higher than both the median wage and the most frequent wage.

Thus, the median wages (that is, the wage figure that divides the number of workers into two equal parts, those whose wages are higher and those whose wages are lower) registered a value of 22,383.11 euros in 2022.

The modal salary (the one with the highest frequency, with 4.2% of wage earners) stood at 14,586.44 euros, although similar frequencies of 16,495.84 euros (4.2% of the total wage earners) and of 18,494.32 (4.1%).were recorded.

The Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI) shifted low-paid workers to the 14,000-15,000 euro bracket, making this the most frequent one. The other two pay brackets mentioned also saw an increase in their number of wage earners, but to a lesser extent. In total, 20.5% of wage earners had annual earnings of between 14,000 and 19,000 euros.

Distribution of gross annual earnings. 2022

Percentage of employees by annual wages

The average earnings of men increased by 3.5% to 29,381.84 euros, and that of women by 5.1% to 24,359.82 euros. The average female salary was therefore 82.9% of that of men. However, this difference must be qualified by other labour variables (type of contract, working hours, occupation, seniority, etc.) that have a significant impact on salary.

Salaries by section of economic activity

The economic activity with the highest average annual salary in 2022 was Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with 55,470.69 euros per worker. This figure was 105.8% higher than the national average.

The next activity with the highest wage corresponded to Financial and insurance activities, with 47,239.53 euros.

On the other hand, Hotel and catering and Other services received the lowest average annual salaries, with 16,274.71 and 18,269.96 euros, respectively. These figures were 39.6% and 32.2% below the average.

By gender, Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply received the highest pay, both for men and for women. And Accommodation and food service activities was the one that received the lowest pay for both sexes. In all economic activities in which the representation for the female sample is significant, women had a lower salary than men.

The largest increases in annual earnings in 2022 were in Accommodation and food service activities (11.2%), Transport and storage (7.1%) and Real estate activities (5.4%).

In contrast, Public Administration and defence, Mandatory Social Insurance, Other services, and Information and communications saw the smallest increases: 0.1%, 0.3% and 2.2%, respectively.

Annual average earnings per employee by activity sections. 2022

CELL SAMPLE SIZE: When the box is marked with an asterisk (*) it indicates that the number of sample observations is between 100 and 500 so the figure is subject to great variability.

Salaries by occupation

Occupation was one of the variables that most influenced the pay level. The average pay of Executives and managers, which was 120.7% higher in 2022 than the rest of the occupations, stood out.

Also above average were the salaries of the occupations of the large groups: Scientific and intellectual technicians and professionals, and Technicians and support professionals.

Other occupations had average wages below the national average. The lowest paid were Elementary occupations, Plant and machinery operators and assemblers and Artisans and skilled workers in the manufacturing and construction industries (except plant and machinery operators).

By sex, the occupations with the highest remuneration were the same for men and women in the same order. The major groups with the lowest pay also coincided among men and women, but the order was different.

In all occupations women had lower pay than men.

The groups with the highest pay increase in 2022 were Accounting, administrative and other office employees (8.4%) and Elementary occupations (6.3%).

In contrast, annual earnings fell among Skilled workers in the agricultural, livestock, forestry and fishing industries.

Annual average earnings per employee by occupation (euros). 2022

CELL SAMPLE SIZE: When the box is marked with an asterisk (*) it indicates that the number of sample observations is between 100 and 500 so the figure is subject to great variability.

Territorial analysis

The highest salaries in 2022 were in País Vasco (32,313.73 euros per worker per year), Comunidad de Madrid (31,230.73) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (29,189.52).

On the other hand, Extremadura (21,922.73 euros), Canarias (23,096.92) and Castilla-La Mancha (23,751.71) recorded the lowest.

Looking at the annual growth in profit, Illes Balears, Principado de Asturias and Comunidad de Madrid presented the highest rates, while Castilla-La Mancha, Cataluña y Región de Murcia recorded the lowest.

Main results by autonomous communities. 2022

Revisions and data updates

The data published today are final. All results are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The quadrennial salary structure survey is a statistical operation carried out since 1995 within the framework of the European Union with common criteria of methodology and content, in order to obtain comparable results on the structure and distribution of salaries among its Member States. The survey investigates the distribution of salaries based on a wide variety of variables such as sex, occupation, branch of activity, seniority, and company size.

Type of operation:
quadrennial structure survey.
Population scope:
Social Security contribution accounts. General Scheme: Sections B to S of CNAE-09 and Special Scheme for Seafarers: Sea Transport (Division 50 of CNAE-09). Within each account, individual salaried workers are selected.
Geographical scope:
the entire national territory.
Reference period:
two reference periods are distinguished in the survey. Most of the questions refer to the month of October of the reference year. This month has the advantage of being considered ¿normal¿ in all EU countries, in the sense that it is not very affected by seasonal variations or by payments due longer than a month, such as Christmas payments. Other data refer to the year as a whole. In this way, monthly and annual profits are obtained.
Sample sizel:
Approximately 28,500 establishments and 250,000 workers.
Sample type:
Two-stage sampling. The first-stage statistical unit is the contribution accounts and a stratified random sample with optimal allocation is used. Comprehensive survey for workplaces with more than 500 employees. The second stage is the workers of the contribution accounts. The number of workers selected in each account depends on its size. The selection of the sample of contribution accounts has been carried out applying a criterion of negative coordination, so that, whenever possible, efforts have been made to ensure that the selected units are not already collaborating in other INE surveys, in order to reduce the burden of responding to informants.
Collection method:
questionnaire filled in directly by the establishment.

More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.

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