The Basque Country has the highest average salary in the Spanish State with 27,800 Euros

The average annual salary in the Basque Country rose by 3.2% in 2014 up to 27,786 Euros, the highest in the Spanish State, according to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Women’s earnings increased by 4.8% and stood at 23,781 Euros, whereas men’s earnings grew by 3.2% up to 31,271 Euros. Therefore, there is still a gap of 7,490 Euros in favour of men.

At the level of the Spanish State, the average salary increased by seven tenths and stood at 22,858 Euros. Women had an annual remuneration below this average (19,744 Euros), whereas men surpassed it (25,727 Euros). Therefore, the pay gap stood at nearly 6,000 Euros, in spite of the fact that women’s earnings increased by 1.2%, and men’s by two tenths.

After the Basque Country, the highest salaries in the State were in Madrid (26,570 Euros), Navarre (24,700) and Catalonia (23,927). On the other hand, the lowest were in Extremadura (19,180 Euros) and the Canary Islands (19,436 Euros).

Among women, the highest salaries were in the Basque Country, with 23,781 Euros on average, followed by Madrid (23,326 Euros) and Catalonia (23,324), whereas the lowest were in Extremadura (17,413 Euros), Andalusia (17,478) and Murcia (17,500).

As for men’s salaries, the highest were in the Basque Country, Madrid and Navarre and the lowest were in the Canary Islands and Extremadura.

Thus, the gap between the community with the highest and the lowest salary has fully widened this century: a difference of up to 8,606 Euros in 2014 between the average salaries in the Basque Country (27,787 Euros) and Extremadura (19,181 Euros), two thousand Euros more than the 6,783 Euros which separated the salaries in Madrid (23,184 Euros) and Extremadura (16,401 Euros) in 2002.