In Italy an employee earns approximately 13 euros gross per houraccording to the latest available Eurostat data referring to 2022. Net of taxes and contributions, the figure generally reduces to around 8-10 euros net per hour, although the value varies based on income, contract and individual tax situation. The Italian data results lower than the European Union average of 14.91 euros gross per hour, and highlights how our country is placed in the medium-low part of the European wage ranking.
The Eurostat survey (Structure of Earnings Survey) examines companies with at least 10 employees active in all sectors of the economy, with the exception of agriculture and public administration/defense, and is therefore highly representative of employed work in the private sector.
The average hourly salary of an Italian
To compare salaries between different countries, Eurostat uses the median gross hourly wagethat is, the salary that divides workers into two equal groups: half earn more than the median salary and the other half earn less. This is an indicator that is often more representative than the average, because it is less influenced by the presence of a few particularly high salaries.
In 2022 the Median gross hourly wage in Italy it was equal to 13.05 euros, against a European average of 14.91 euros. In other words, the “typical” Italian worker receives an hourly wage inferior of approximately the 12% compared to the EU average.
However, a more encouraging figure for the Bel Paese comes from the percentage of low-wage workersdefined by Eurostat as those who earn less than two thirds of the national median hourly wage. In Italy this category represents only 8.8% of employees, one of the lowest percentages in the European Union.
Comparison with hourly wages in the rest of Europe
Wage differences between EU countries are very large. Median gross hourly wages in 2022 higher have been registered in the countries of Northern Europe and of theWestern Europe:
- Denmark: 29.8 euros;
- Luxembourg: 24.0 euros;
- Belgium: 23.8 euros;
- Ireland: 20.3 euros;
- Germany: 19.4 euros;
- Finland and Sweden: 19.3 euros;
- Netherlands: 19.0 euros.
Atopposite extreme of the European ranking, the countries with the lowest median gross hourly wages are:
- Bulgaria: 4.1 euros;
- Romania: 5.6 euros;
- Hungary: 5.7 euros;
- Portugal: 6.2 euros;
- Croatia: 6.8 euros;
- Poland: 6.9 euros.
The gap And notable: Denmark’s median hourly wage is around 7.4 times higher than that of Bulgaria, the lowest recorded in the EU.
Even the percentage of low-wage workers varies significantly from country to country. The highest percentages (which indicate the countries with the greatest diffusion of workers with very low wages) are recorded in:
- Bulgaria (26.8%);
- Romania (23.9%);
- Latvia (23.3%);
- Greece (21.7%);
- Estonia (21.2%);
- Cyprus (20.0%).
On the contrary, the lower odds of low-wage workers are observed in:
- Portugal (1.8%);
- Sweden (4.1%);
- Finland (6.5%);
- Italy (8.8%);
- Slovenia (9.4%);
- France and Denmark (9.7%).
These data tell us that the Denmark represents the most virtuous European caseas it combines very high median wages with a low share of low-wage workers. THE’Italytogether with other countries such as France and Slovenia, instead shows a different picture: the salaries medians are more bass, but the spread of low-wage work remains relatively limited. This suggests that the Italian problem concerns above all the general level of wages rather than a strong concentration of workers in the lowest wage brackets.
