
The net wage refers to the actual amount that the worker ends up receiving. Normally it is calculated based on 14 payments (the usual in Spain, being 12 for each month of the year and two extra, usually for holidays), although in some cases 12 payments are rather used.įinally, the difference between gross and net wages. So although it is an indicator that can serve to give us a general idea, you can not rely on it much to understand how much you can expect to earn within your specific industry/job position.Īnother element to take into account is the number of payments with which the average salary is contemplated. Obviously, and knowing these data, we see that the average wage poses a problem: it is aggregating all kinds of workers in all industries or sectors. In other words, the average wage is obtained by adding up all the wages earned in the country and dividing by the total number of workers. On a general level, average wage = sum of total wages earned / number of wage earners. We have just seen what the average wage in Spain is that is, the average amount that any worker, if picked at random, earns.īut in order to really understand what this number means we must know how it is calculated. This is certainly a crucial consideration. Obviously the price of renting in capitals such as Barcelona or Madrid can be quite high, but moving to the periphery of these cities or looking for other less touristy regions is enough so that even with the lowest salary you could enjoy the Spanish lifestyle comfortably. Nevertheless, and due to the affordable cost of living in all the Spanish territory, the average salary is totally sufficient to live a more than dignified life in the country. We are talking about the southern communities, such as Andalusia, Murcia, or Extremadura below 1,400 euros per month. On the other hand, we find those regions with the lowest salaries.


That is, more purchasing power for workers.įollowing the same line of recent years, the Autonomous Communities of Madrid and País Vasco are the regions with the highest salaries (almost reaching 2,000 euros gross per month). 5 The Spanish labor market What is the average salary in Spain?Īt the end of 2019, the average salary was 1,695 euros, an increase of 1.5% over the previous year.
