ACRONYMS National Statistics Institute
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28 May 2026

Wage Structure Survey

Year 2024

Main results

  • The average annual salary was 29,540.26 euros per worker in 2024, 5.3% higher than that of the previous year. That for women was 26,904.90 euros and that for men was 32,057.55.
  • The economic activity with the highest annual remuneration was Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with 57,931.81 euros. In contrast, wage-earners in Accommodation and food service activities had the lowest average earnings, with 17,653.42 euros.
  • The annual salary of Directors and managers (63,865.45 euros) was 116.2% higher than the average. The annual salary of Unskilled services workers (except transport) was 16,062.57 euros, 45.6% below the average.
  • The autonomous community with the highest average annual salary was País Vasco (35,170.28 euros). At the other end of the spectrum, Extremadura had the lowest (24,979.44 euros).

Average annual earnings per worker were 29,540.26 euros in 2024, which is 5.3% higher as compared with the previous year. One feature of the functions of wage distribution is that many more workers were registered in the lowest values than in the highest salaries. This results in the average wage being higher than both the median wage and the most frequent wage.

Thus, the median wages (that is, the wage figure that divides the number of workers into two equal parts, those whose wages are higher and those whose wages are lower) registered a value of 24,497.17 euros in 2024.

The modal salary (the one with the highest frequency, with 3.8% of wage earners) stood at 16,520.18 euros. The shift of low-wage workers into the 16,000-17,000 euro bracket, making this the most frequent one in 2024.

However, it is also worth highlighting the brackets between 17,000 and 23,000 euros, all of which had a frequency above 3.5%.

Overall, 29.5% of salaried workers earned an annual income between 16,000 and 23,000 euros.

Distribution of gross annual earnings. 2024

Percentage of employees by annual wages

By gender, the average earnings of men increased by 5.5% in 2024, reaching 32,057.55 euros, while that of women rose by 5.1%, reaching 26,904.90 euros. The average female salary was therefore 83.9% of the male salary. However, this difference should be qualified based on other job-related variables (such as type of contract, working hours, occupation, seniority, etc.) that have a significant impact on salary.

Salaries by section of economic activity

The economic activity with the highest average annual salary in 2024 was Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with 57,931.81 euros per worker. This figure was 96.1% higher than the national average.

The next activity with the highest wage corresponded to Financial and insurance activities, with 51,862.90 euros.

On the other hand, Accommodation and food service activities and Arts, entertainment and recreation activities received the lowest average annual salaries, with 17,653.42 and 20,383.16 euros, respectively. These figures were 40.2% and 31.0% below the average.

By gender, Electric energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply received the highest pay for men and Mining and quarrying industries for women. And Accommodation and food service activities was the one that received the lowest pay for both genders.

In all economic activities in which the representation for the female sample is significant, women had a lower salary than men.

The largest increases in annual earnings in 2024 were in Professional, scientific and technical activities (8.0%), Mining and quarrying industries (7.9%) and Information and communication (7.7%).

In contrast, Arts, entertainment and recreation activities decreased the annual salary by 1.2%.

Annual average earnings per employee by activity sections. 2024

(*) The number of sample observations is between 100 and 500, so the figure is subject to high variability.
The data is not available when the number of sample observations is fewer than 100.

Salaries by occupation

Occupation was one of the variables that most influenced the pay level. The average pay of Executives and managers, which was 116.2% higher in 2024 than the rest of the occupations, stood out.

Also above average were the salaries of the three main groups related to Technicians and Professionals, as well as those of Protective and security services workers, Stationary plant and Machine Operators, and Assemblers and Office employees who do not deal with the public.

Other occupations had average wages below the national average. The lowest paid were Unskilled services workers (except transport), Catering and trade services workers and Health services and personal care workers.

By gender, the occupations with the highest remuneration were the same for men and women in the same order. The major groups with the lowest pay also coincided for men and women, likewise in the same order. In all occupations women had lower pay than men.

The groups with the highest pay increase in 2024 were Stationary plant and Machine Operators, and Assemblers (6.9%) and Office employees who do not deal with the public (6.3%). In contrast, annual earnings fell among Protective and security services workers as well as Office employees who deal with the public recorded the smallest increases in annual earnings (1.2% and 3.9%, respectively).

Annual average earnings per employee by occupation (euros). 2024

(*) The number of sample observations is between 100 and 500, so the figure is subject to high variability.
The data is not available when the number of sample observations is fewer than 100.

Territorial analysis

The highest salaries in 2024 were in País Vasco (35,170.28 euros per worker), Comunidad de Madrid (34,410.01) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (32,605.28).

On the other hand, Extremadura (24,979.44 euros), Canarias (25,120.38) and Castilla-La Mancha (26,062.05) recorded the lowest.

Comunidad de Madrid, Cataluña and La Rioja recorded the highest wage increases. Cantabria, Principado de Asturias and Castilla y León had the smallest increases.

Main results by autonomous communities. 2024

Revisions and data updates

The data published today are final. All results are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The main objective of the Annual Wage Structure Survey (AWSS) is to obtain estimates of the gross annual earnings per worker, classified by type of working day, sex, section of the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE-09) and occupation to one digit of the National Classification of Occupations (NCO-11).

The information is obtained through the combined processing of the Social Security General Affiliation File (SS) and Model 190 statements: Annual Summary of Withholdings and Advance Payments on Personal Income Taxes by the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT) and the Regional Treasuries of Navarra, Bizkaia y Gipuzkoa, along with the occupation and work time variables provided by the survey attached to the INE Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS). The collaboration of the mentioned entities is fundamental for the elaboration of this statistical operation.

Type of operation:
annual structural survey.
Population scope:
Social Security contribution accounts. General Scheme: Sections B to S of CNAE-09 and Special Scheme for Seafarers: Sea Transport (Division 50 of CNAE-09).
Geographical scope:
the entire national territory.
Reference period:
the calendar year
Sample size:
Approximately 28,500 establishments and 250,000 workers.
Sample type:
Two-stage sampling. The first-stage statistical unit is the contribution accounts and a stratified random sample with optimal allocation is used. The survey is comprehensive for establishments with more than 500 employees. The second stage is the workers of the contribution accounts. The number of workers selected in each account depends on their size.
Collection method:
questionnaire filled in directly by the establishment and mining of administrative files.

More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.

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