The average Spanish salary reaches its historical maximum, but loses purchasing power, according to Adecco

MADRID, 7 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The average Spanish salary reached its historical maximum in 2021, standing at 1,751 euros per month, 6.6% more than the previous year, but its purchasing power is 3.1% lower than that registered in 2008, according to the VIII Annual Adecco Monitor on Salaries, published this Thursday.

Despite the fact that the purchasing power of Spanish salaries grew by 3.4% in 2021, the rise in prices "took approximately half of the salary increase", as pointed out by Adecco.

Thus, the purchasing power of the average remuneration has fallen by 0.2% in the last five years, which is equivalent to a loss of four euros per month or 48 euros per year compared to 2016.

By deciles, the 10% of wage earners who earn the least earn a remuneration in their main job of 556 euros per month, while the 10% of workers with higher wages receive an average of 5,001 euros per month. Therefore, the highest salaries in 2021 were paid nine times more than the lowest, although this is the second lowest ratio since 2010.

By sectors, the average salary in the industry rose by 5.1% in 2021, to 1,973 euros per month, its maximum historical value. Industry is the sector with a higher average wage than the general average, which means that a worker in this sector earns an average of 222 euros more than the rest of the wage earners.

In the case of construction, wages increased by 4.7% last year, with an average salary of 1,701 euros per month, also its highest record to date. For the services sector, the increase in salaries was 7% in 2021 and reached 1,716 euros, the historical maximum for this sector.

Regarding the relationship between wages and purchasing power, workers in the services sector saw their purchasing power increase by 3.8%, followed by more moderate rises in industry (1.9%) and in construction (1. 5%).

Large companies, with more than 200 workers, pay better than small and medium-sized ones, as the Adecco Monitor concludes. While a small company offers an average salary of 1,469 euros, employees of a large company receive an average monthly salary of 2,071 euros. Thus, the salary difference between the largest and smallest companies is 603 euros per month, the equivalent of 7,236 euros per year.

Breaking down this data by sector shows that the gap is wider in the case of construction. In this sector, the salary of small companies is 1,616 euros compared to 2,372 euros offered by large companies. However, this gap has been reduced by 19 percentage points between 2016 and 2021, to 47%.

In the industry, salaries range from 1,650 euros in the smallest companies to 2,041 euros per month in the large ones. For the services sector, salaries range from 1,417 euros per month for smaller companies to 2,028 euros for large ones.

Between 2016 and 2021, the average salary has lost purchasing power in medium-sized and large companies, but has gained it in smaller ones. In that period, workers in companies with more than 200 employees accumulated a loss of 3.3% in purchasing power, while in small companies they gained 0.9%.

An average full-time worker received 2,021 euros per month last year, as Adecco points out, while a part-time employee received 791 euros per month.

By sectors, the highest remuneration is that of full-time industry workers, with 2,070 euros per month, and the lowest, that of construction workers with 1,764 euros per month. However, part-time construction employees had the highest salary within this modality, with 905 euros per month, compared to 784 euros per month earned by a part-time worker in the services sector.

The ratio between the average full-time and part-time remuneration ranges between 1.9 times in Construction and 2.6 times in Services. The gap between the highest and lowest average part-time remuneration in 2021 was 121 euros per month (1,452 euros per year), which arises from comparing the average salary of Construction (905 euros/month) and Services (784 euros/ month).

The breakdown of the total average salary between the two types of working day shows that over the last five years the purchasing power of the average full-time salary fell by 1.8%, while that corresponding to the average part-time salary rose 1%.

The highest salaries in 2021 were paid in the Community of Madrid, with an average of 2,077 euros. In addition, four other communities exceed the national average. In the Basque Country, salaries stood at 2,051 euros per month, followed by 1,883 euros in Navarra; 1,866 euros in Catalonia; and 1,754 euros in Asturias.

On the contrary, the Canary Islands repeat for the second year as the region with the lowest average wage, with 1,416 euros per month, while in Extremadura, wages stand, on average, at 1,418 euros.

The salary gap between Madrid and the Canary Islands is 661 euros per month, which throughout the year adds up to 7,932 euros. Thus, an average salary earner from Madrid receives, on average, 47% more than a Canarian.

Regarding the purchasing power of the average salary, the purchasing power of the average salary was reduced in ten autonomous communities and increased in the other seven.

Galicia stands out with an increase of 4.4%, while in Navarra and Catalonia it was 1%. Wages lost 5.9% of purchasing power in the Canary Islands, 3.9% in Cantabria and 3% in La Rioja.