If you're thinking of moving to Spain and want to look for a job, knowing the average monthly salary in Spain is a good place to start.The average salary in Spain has set a record at €1,822 in 2022. According to the consulting firm Adecco, it rose by 4% since the previous year, the second-highest increase since 2008. So, what is the average salary in Spain by sector? And how much do people earn in different parts of Spain? We have all the details.
The study states that the services sector has led monthly wage increases with 4.3% (0.3 points above the national average), followed by industry (3.4%) and construction (2.9%). However, industry has the highest average wage: €2,040, its highest value ever. Services, meanwhile, also registered a record high, at €1,790, whileconstruction was €1,751, the highest since 2008.
According to Adecco, in 2022, only four autonomous communities showed an average monthly salary higher than the average for the whole country (€1,822). The Community of Madrid (€2,139), the Basque Country (€2,099), Navarre (€1,971) and Catalonia (€1,954). In contrast, Extremadura has the lowest salary (€1,487), followed by the Canary Islands (€1,568) and Murcia (€1,581), the only three regions below €1,600.
Average gross monthly salary in Spain
Data from 2022 idealista
Purchasing power in Spain falls
Despite the rise in wages, the consulting firm Adecco claims that the average worker lost 4% of their purchasing power in 2022, as the increase in consumer prices was higher that year than the increase in wages.
"Over the last five years, there has been a 2.5% cumulative drop in the purchasing power of average pay. This equates to a loss of almost €44 per month or €523 per year compared to 2017," explains the study.
By sector, average construction wages were the worst hit in 2022, with a 5% reduction, translating into approximately €85 less per month or €1,022 per year.
Construction was followed by industry, which saw a 4.6% actual wage reduction, representing €91 less per month or €1,088 per year less per year. The least affected sector was services, which recorded a loss in purchasing power of 3.8%, translating into €64 less per month or €772 per year.
In contrast, the cumulative evolution of purchasing power during 2017–2022 shows that industry is the most affected, with a reduction of 6.3%, followed by a loss of purchasing power of 4.4% in construction and 1.4% in services.
In current euro terms, the loss of purchasing power with wages in industry over the last five years is equivalent to approximately €125 per month or €1,504 less per year. The loss of purchasing power for construction equates to almost €74 per month or €885 per year, while for services, the loss is almost €24 per month and €285 per year.
The gap between large and small companies
In 2022, the wage gap between the largest and smallest companies was approximately €578 per month or €6,939 per year. This gap in percentage terms is equivalent to 37%.
However, the average pay gap between small and large companies has been closing, as it was 41% in 2021 and 45% in 2017. The study indicates that small companies' average pay is improving more than that of large companies.
Specifically, last year, compared to the average monthly pay of €1,822, the largest companies (with 200 or more employees) paid their workers an average of €2,127 per month, i.e. €305 more than the national average.
Small companies (1 to 49 employees), on the other hand, averaged €1,549 per month (€273 below the average), and medium-sized companies (50 to 199 employees) reached €1,919 (€97 above the average).
All autonomous communities have lost purchasing power since 2017
All autonomous communities lost purchasing power from 2017 to 2022, with Castile-La Mancha losing the most (6.1%), followed by Cantabria (5.9%), Asturias (5.6%), and La Rioja (5.2%).
Among the autonomous communities that lost between 3% and 5% of their average wages were Castile and Leon (-4.9%), the Basque Country (-4.7%), Andalusia (-3.6%), Navarre (-3.6%) and the Region of Murcia (-3.3%).
Autonomous communities with drops in the purchasing power of the average wage of less than 2.5% in this period are Extremadura (-2.4%), the Community of Madrid (-2.1%), the Canary Islands (-1.9%), the Balearic Islands (-1.9%), Aragon (-1.7%), the Community of Valencia (-1.4%), Galicia (-1.2%) and, Catalonia (-0.4%) is the least affected community.
