British get highest incomes in EU
ELITSA VUCHEVA
31.05.2005 @ 17:45 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - UK citizens earn the highest incomes within the EU, with average annual earnings of 36,180 euro, statistics show.
The average results for the 25-member-bloc in 2002 were 26,850 euro, according to statistics released by Eurostat on Monday (30 May).
Luxembourg and Germany show respectively the second and third highest earnings, with 35,010 euro and 34,620 euro.
On the other hand, people in Estonia (4,440 euro), Lithuania (3,600 euro) and Latvia (3,240 euro) earn the least, with Lithuanians and Latvians earning over ten times less than the British, according to the EU's statistical agency's figures.
These figures do not reflect purchasing power, however, as they do no take into account the differences in price levels within the EU.
If purchasing power taken into account, people in Luxembourg have the highest average earnings, followed by the Germans and the British, with Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians still at the bottom of the list.
Gender gap
In all 25 member states, there is a marked difference between average earnings for men and women, with the gap being the largest in the UK, Denmark and Cyprus.
In these countries, women earn about 30 per cent less than men.
The smallest gaps - 20 per cent - were recorded in Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Belgium, Sweden and Finland.
This can be explained by several factors, such as the type of jobs, age, and other employment characteristics, and does not "necessarily reflect a gap in pay between women and men occupying the same job with the same level of seniority", according to Eurostat.
Another factor influencing the gap in average earnings is the level of education.
People with only a lower education earn 20,420 euro per year on average, whereas those who have university education or equivalent, have an average annual income of 41,080 euro within the EU.
And the level of education seems to have a particularly important role in the new member states, where those who have a university diploma sometimes earn twice as much as those only having completed upper secondary education.
Highest incomes in the financial sector
Another common tendency within the EU is that the financial sector records the highest annual earnings, with an average of 43,550 euro.
Annual average salaries in Luxembourg (59,200), the UK (56,710 euro), Germany (45,600 euro), and the Netherlands (44,110) have levels above the average, whereas Slovakia (9,950 euro), Latvia (8,000 euro) and Lithuania (7,360 euro) are lagging far behind.
The services and industry sectors follow in second and third place after the financial sector, with respectively 27,200 euro and 27,050 euro on average.
Hotels and restaurants record the lowest figures (17,510 euro on average), with the best results appearing in Finland (24,700 euro), Sweden (24,330 euro), the Netherlands (23,660 euro) and Luxembourg (21,140 euro).
The Eurostat study does not present data for Greece, Portugal and Malta.
