Andalucía is fourth-placed region in Spain where average gross monthly salary has risen most over last 10 years

Andalucía is the fourth-placed region in Spain where the average gross monthly salary has risen the most over the last decade. Back in 2014, the gross monthly average stood at 1,645.50 euros and, ten years later, it is 30.5% higher, at 2,146.50 euros. This increase is only greater in the Balearic Islands (up 37.17% to 2,342.20 euros), Extremadura (up 33.88% to 2,127.20 euros) and the Basque Country (up 30.86% to 2,809.90 euros). Meanwhile, over the last ten years, the average gross salary nationwide has grown by 26.8%, reaching 2,385.60 euros.

However, these are average figures and Spain's INE national statistics institute allows us to delve deeper into what has happened with wages at different income levels. What the INE or, more specifically, what the section of the working population survey (EPA), does is analyse salaries by dividing the population into ten wage/salary groups, from lowest to highest - in other words, by deciles (ten, equal subcategories). This then reveals that, in Andalucía's case, the average wage increase of around 30% masks a great deal of diversity between the percentiles. It further shows that it is the lowest salaries that have grown most, something that seems to be a general trend across Spain as a whole.

The lowest decile, that is, the lowest 10% of salaried workers, has seen earnings increase by almost 81%, to 727.10 euros over the last ten years in Andalucía. Meanwhile, the second-lowest decile has seen wages improve by 55.7%, to 1,278.30 euros, between 2014 and 2024. The third decile has also seen above-average growth in gross average monthly pay, up by 35.2%, to 1,488.50 euros.

From the fourth decile onwards, salary growth falls below that 30% overall average and continues to decline until it reaches the tenth decile, which comprises the highest-paid employees. These workers have seen their average gross monthly salaries improve by 20% over the last ten years, reaching 5,404.20 euros. This is one of the points where Andalucía also differs from the rest of Spain, as the top 10% of earners nationally have seen their salaries rise by 24.3%, to 5,741 euros, more than the preceding deciles.

Let's pause for a moment to consider the fifth decile, the one with as many workers below as above it in terms of salary. These workers have a gross average monthly salary of almost 1,900 euros, based on 2024 data, which is a 26.3% increase on the slightly over 1,500 euros of ten years prior.

While Andalucía sits in fourth place in terms of salary increases over the last decade for all the regions of Spain, it also remains in fourth place for those with the lowest salaries. Only three regions are below the 2,146.50 euros of Andalucía: Extremadura (2,127.20 euros), Murcia (2,120.90 euros) and the Canary Islands (2,051.70 euros).

At the other end of the scale are the Basque Country, with an average gross monthly salary of 2,809.90 euros, and Madrid at 2,761.80 euros, as well as Navarre and Catalonia, both above 2,500 euros. The average Spanish salary in 2024, according to these statistics, is 2,385.60 euros.

Up to this point, the figures refer to salaries that take into account both full-time and part-time workers. However, it is important to distinguish between the two. Thus, the wages of full-time workers in Andalucía have grown by 23.65% since 2014, now reaching 2,348.70 euros. This growth rate is behind that of the Balearic Islands, Extremadura, La Rioja, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Castile-La Mancha. Also, Andalucía once more in fourth place for the lowest salaries for its full-time workers, ahead only of Extremadura, Murcia and the Canary Islands.

The Spanish average stands at 2,618.20 euros, which is 22.8% higher than ten years ago. In the Basque Country, the gross monthly salary exceeds 3,100 euros and in Madrid it surpasses 3,000 euros.

The increase has been more pronounced in the salaries of part-time workers. Specifically, in Andalucía, between 2014 and 2024, their average earnings rose from 643.80 to 920 euros, an increase of 42.9%. This figure, however, is somewhat below the national average, which saw a 44.17% increase, slightly exceeding 1,000 euros gross per month on average.

The survey also shows how many employees are full-time and part-time. In Andalucía, the total adds up to 2.863 million workers, 33.77% more than a decade ago, when it stood at 2.14 million people. This growth rate is higher than the Spanish average, which is below 30%, bringing the total to nearly 18.5 million workers, compared to 14.23 million employees in 2014.

Andalucía is the second fastest-growing region in terms of salaried workers, only behind the Canary Islands (37.5% increase). It also ranks third in volume (total number of salaried workers), after Catalonia (3.36 million workers) and Madrid (3 million workers).

The growth in the number of salaried workers in Andalucía is solely due to the increase in the number of those on full-time contracts, as these have risen by almost 44% to 2.46 million workers. However, the number of part-time employees in 2024 is 6.35% lower than ten years ago, falling from 433,100 to 405,600 employees. This is contrary to the country as a whole, where the number of part-time employees has increased by 7% to over 2.6 million workers.