Where does Spain sit on the map of hourly wages in Europe?

Have you ever wondered how much a worker earns per hour in other European countries? The Voronoi app, taking Eurostat data from 2023, has developed a map that shows Spain to be below the European average in the hourly rate of pay, currently set at 24 euros per hour. Spain shows up rather differently to its European neighbours. Thus the bluer the country is on the map, the higher the hourly wage. Interestingly, the results range from 47.20 euros per hour right down to eight.

While countries closer to Spain such as Portugal are at the bottom of the list with an average hourly wage of 13.70 euros, France, in contrast, is above average with 28.70 euros per hour. Italy also exceeds that of Spain with an average of 21.50 euros per hour, placing it in 14th position. In the middle of this picture stands Spain with 18.20 euros per hour on average paid to its workforce in 2023. That puts the country almost halfway down the list of countries analysed by Eurostat, in 15th place to be exact.

Topping the list is Luxembourg with an average pay rate of 47 euros per hour. Not surprising really as it has one of the highest GDP (gross domestic product) per capita in the world. In second and third place are Denmark (42 euros per hour) and Norway at 41.70. What is rather odd is that another Scandinavian country, namely Sweden, pays significantly less - 26 euros per hour.

At the other extreme to Luxembourg are Bulgaria with 8 euros per hour and Romania with 10.40 euros per hour. They are followed by Latvia at 10.7 euros. Moreover, while Denmark and Iceland also feature at the top of the table in terms of average earnings, it is the southern European countries that mostly appear lower down the ranking. For example, Greece at 12.60 euros per hour.

This map once again supports the well-known belief that Northern and Western European nations have higher average wages than those in Southern and Eastern Europe. Visual Capitalist, who has illustrated these results in map format, clarifies on its website that of course the average wage map is also a reflection of the cost of living in each country.

In light of this visualisation, Business Insider (the New York City-based multinational, financial and business news website) points out that the wage gap could influence the competitiveness of the Spanish labour market , affecting both the attraction of talent and the standard of living for the country's workforce.

The website adds that: "economic experts have pointed out that the wage gap reflects a number of structural challenges in the Spanish economy , including the need for labour market reforms and policies that encourage higher productivity and wages." Meanwhile, trade unions have commented that the map represents yet another call to improve wage conditions in Spain.

In the face of pay always being a complex economic issue, visualisations of this kind allow us to grasp at a glance an issue that, in the here and now, still continues to generate debate while raising further questions.