Malta has one of the lowest earnings discrepancies across the EU, in stark contrast with a number of other countries, data released today shows.
The lowest wage discrepancies were recorded in Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Finland (all with a ratio of 2.4), France (2.7) and Malta (2.9), according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
But notable discrepancies can be observed in EU states in gross hourly earnings, not only between the 10% of employees earning the least and the 10% earning the most, but also according to the economic activity.
The largest earnings disparities were reported in Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Portugal, Bulgaria and Ireland.
Financial and insurance activities were among the highest paying industries in every EU state
Financial and insurance activities were among the highest paying industries in every EU state with accommodation and food services among the lowest paying.
Ten per cent of the best-paid employees earned at least twice as much as the 10% lowest-paid in Sweden, and nearly five times as much in Poland.
The highest disparity on the upper end of the gross hourly earnings distribution in 2014 was registered in Portugal. This means that the 10% best paid employees in Portugal earned almost three times as much the median.
Portugal is followed by Bulgaria, Cyprus, Poland and Romania (all with a ratio of 2.5), Latvia (2.3), as well as Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary and the United Kingdom (all 2.2). In contrast, Denmark and Sweden (both with a ratio of 1.6), Finland (1.7), Belgium, France, Malta and the Netherlands (all 1.8) recorded the lowest.
For the lower end of the gross hourly earnings distribution, disparities in 2014 were largest in Estonia. This means that in Estonia the 10% least paid employees earned half of the median earnings. Estonia is followed by Germany, Ireland and Poland (all 1.9).
'Financial and insurance activities' ranked among the three highest paying economic activities in every EU state except Ireland. The sector 'Information and communication' was also largely represented among the top three paying industries in most countries.
At the opposite end of the ranking, 'Accomodation and food service activities' was identified in 2014 as the lowest paying activity of the economy in all states, except Spain, Malta and Slovenia.
'Administrative and support service activities' also ranked widely in the bottom three, with the exceptions of Hungary, Malta, Estonia and Cyprus.