How much do women earn compared to men across Europe?
Despite progress, women in the EU still earn 12% less than men. Euronews Business analyses the gender pay gap across Europe to mark International Women’s Day.
Multiple indicators highlight persistent economic disparities between women and men, with the data making these inequalities undeniably clear. Despite having the highest gender parity among all regions in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2023, Europe is no exception to these challenges.
In 2023, women in the EU earned 12% less than men according to Eurostat. This means women made only €88 for every €100 earned by men.
The gender pay gap in the EU was 16% in 2013, four percentage points higher than in 2023.
The unadjusted gender pay gap is a useful indicator. It is “the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men”. This calculation includes enterprises with 10 or more employees.
In 2023, the unadjusted gender pay gap ranged from -0.7% in Luxembourg to 19% in Latvia.
A negative rate indicates that women, on average, earned more than men.
Displaying amounts instead of percentages might make it easier to understand how much women earn for every €100 men make.
In 2023, women in Latvia earned just €81 for every €100 earned by men, followed by Austria (€82) and Czechia (€82).
These disparities become even more significant when viewed in terms of monthly salaries. For example, if we assume an average salary of €2,000 in Austria, women would earn €360 less than men each month.
Luxembourg was the only country where women (€101) earned more than men (€100).
The pay gap was also less than €5 in Belgium, Italy, and Romania, making them the best countries for women after Luxembourg.
Among Europe’s top five economies, the gender pay gap remains significant, except in Italy. Germany ranked fifth among 31 countries, with women earning just €82 for every €100 earned by men. In the UK, this figure was €86, while in France, it was €88.
Spain was only slightly below the EU average at €91, while Italy had the third smallest gap, with women earning €98 for every €100 earned by men.
Examining key trends, Eastern and Central European countries exhibit larger unadjusted gender pay gaps. In contrast, Southern European countries like Italy, Spain, and Portugal recorded some of the lowest disparities.
Nordic countries also continue to show significant gender pay gaps, with Finland, Denmark, and Norway all exceeding the EU average. This may come as a surprise, given their strong reputation for gender equality.
Why do women earn less than men?
The European Commission provides four main reasons for the gender pay gap.
1. Overrepresentation of women in lower-paying sectors: The Commission emphasises that approximately 24% of the gender pay gap is linked to sectoral segregation, meaning women are more likely to work in lower-paid industries such as care, health, and education. Jobs dominated by women are often systematically undervalued.
2. Unequal distribution of paid and unpaid: Women tend to work more hours per week than men. However, women spend more hours on unpaid work such as caregiving and household responsibilities.
3. The glass ceiling: Position in the hierarchy significantly impacts earnings, with women vastly underrepresented in top leadership roles. For instance, fewer than one in ten CEOs of major companies are women.
Another example comes from the media sector. A study by the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford found that only 27% of the 171 top editors across 240 media brands are women in 2025. This is despite women making up an average of 40% of journalists in the 12 markets analyzed.
4. Pay discrimination: In some cases, women still earn less than men for performing the same work or work of equal value.
The Commission also found that the majority of the gender pay gap in the EU remains unexplained. It cannot be attributed to factors such as education, occupation, working hours, or the economic sector in which a person is employed.
“More transparency in pay would help uncover unjustified gender-based pay differences for equal work”, the Commission urged.
The EU's Pay Transparency Directive aims to tackle these issues comprehensively.
Employment rate is also a key indicator of gender equality. Huge disparities still exist, too.
The employment rate is higher for men in all 32 countries
Among 32 European countries (EU, EFTA, and EU candidate countries), men had a higher employment rate than women in the third quarter of 2024.
The EU average stood at 80.9% for men and 70.9% for women, reflecting a 10 percentage point (pp) gap.
Turkey stands out as an outlier with a 38 pp employment gap disadvantaging women.
Similarly, the gap exceeded 18 percentage points in Italy, Greece, and Romania.
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