According to Eurostat data from 2023, Visual Capitalist has created a representative map of the average hourly wages in Europe which reveals significant disparities in hourly labour costs.

In first place is Europe’s capital of financial services, Luxembourg, with the highest average salary at 47 euros an hour. The country also has the highest GDP per capita in the world.

Denmark ranks second with 42 euros an hour, followed by Norway and Iceland respectively. Halfway down the list, it ranks Italy at 21,5 euros, followed by Spain at 18,2 euros. Portugal appears further down the list in 19th position with 13,7 euros an hour.

The European countries with the lowest hourly rates are Latvia at 10.7 euros, followed by Romania at 10.4 euros, and bring the list to the close is Bulgaria at 8.1 euros.

The map shows that Northern and Western Europe have higher average wages than Southern and Eastern Europe, reflecting differences in economic development and the cost of living, influencing citizens' purchasing power, lifestyle choices, and overall conditions.

Country Rank Average salary (€/hour)

1. Luxembourg €47,2

2. Denmark €42,0

3. Norway €41,7

4. Iceland €39.5

5. Belgium €36,3

6. Ireland €33,3

7. Netherlands €33,0

8. Germany €31,6

9. Finland €30.5

10. Austria €30,0

11. France €28,7

12. Sweden €26,3

13. Slovenia €21.9

14. Italy €21,5

15. Spain €18,2

16. Cyprus €16.3

17. Lithuania €14.0

18. Malta €14.0

19. Portugal €13,7

20. Czechia €13,6

21. Estonia €13,6

22. Croatia €12.7

23. Greece €12,6

24. Slovakia €12,5

25. Poland €11,9

26. Hungary €11.0

27. Latvia €10,7

28. Romania €10,4

29. Bulgaria €8.1