Switzerland And Luxembourg Feature Near Top Of European Pay League

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-New.scom, Brussels

18 March 2004

A survey on earnings undertaken by the Federation of European Employers has shown that workers in Switzerland and Luxembourg enjoy some of the highest rates of pay on the continent.

The report ‘Pay in Europe 2004’, covers 46 countries and sets out median hourly wages for 30 job positions in 3 company size categories at a common reference date of February 1st 2004.

The results show that Denmark was placed top of the earnings relativity table with a score of 100, followed by Switzerland on 79 and Luxembourg on 72. The UK attained a score of 58 – less than the Isle of Man with a score of 60. Jersey meanwhile was given a figure of 55.

Overall median hourly earnings range from EUR27.89 in Denmark to 16.12 euros in the UK and down to just EUR0.32 euros in Moldova. The biggest salary increases during the last year were in Slovakia (+11.3%), Estonia (+9.8%) and Latvia (+9.6%) whilst hourly rates went down in Portugal (-1.8%) and were virtually unchanged in Switzerland (-0.3%).

A typical middle manager working a 35-hour week in a company employing 500 people would earn a basic annual salary of EUR3,565 ($4,361) in Russia, compared to EUR43,316 ($52,997) in France and EUR55,929 ($68,429) in Germany.

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