Greece in Bottom-Half of Annual Average Wages in 2025: OECD

Greece is placed successful the bottommost fractional of OECD members regarding yearly gross mean wages for 2025, successful a survey focusing connected 27b European countries, 22 of which are successful the European Union (EU).

Greece is beneath the €30,000 mean threshold, arsenic workers person €26,563 annually, putting the state beneath 22 EU countries, on with 9 different countries.

According to the OECD, the mean gross wages crossed Europe ranged from €18,590 successful Turkey to €107,487 successful Switzerland successful 2025, with a stark disagreement persisting betwixt northwestern and southeastern Europe, according to the OECD’s Taxing Wages 2026 report.

Switzerland was the lone state where mean gross wages exceeded €100,000. Iceland ranked 2nd astatine €85,950, followed by Luxembourg astatine €77,844 — the highest successful the EU — then Denmark astatine €71,961 and the Netherlands astatine €69,028. Germany led the EU’s 5 largest economies astatine €66,700, with the United Kingdom adjacent down astatine €65,340. France came successful astatine €45,964, Italy astatine €36,594, and Spain astatine €32,678 — astir fractional the German and British figures.

Greece’s presumption improves markedly successful PPP terms, reaching $50,974 — a important leap from its near-bottom nominal ranking. However, the study highlights a much troubling underlying trend: Greek existent wages successful PPP terms person fallen 21.2 percent since 2010, when the country’s indebtedness situation erupted, making Greece unique among precocious economies successful sustaining such a prolonged wage decline. Despite successive increases to the minimum wage, Greece remains adjacent the bottommost of the EU successful purchasing powerfulness terms, alongside Bulgaria.

Turkey recorded the largest betterment betwixt nominal and PPP rankings, rising 9 places to 18th. Germany moved up 5 places. Iceland fell the furthest, dropping from 2nd to ninth, while Estonia fell from 20th to 25th.

International Labour Organization experts cited by Euronews attributed European wage disparities to three main factors: productivity and economical structure, labour marketplace institutions, and the outgo of living. Countries with high-value-added sectors such arsenic concern and technology, strong trade unions, and corporate bargaining frameworks tend to connection higher wages, while higher terms levels besides tend to propulsion nominal wages upward.

Source: tovima.com