The average annual income of the Portuguese even improved in 2021, rising by 417 euros (3.2%) to 13,113 euros compared to 12,696 euros in 2020, but still representing just over half of the average value exercised in the euro zone, which reached 23,711 euros , according to the report published this Friday by Eurostat.
If we divide these average amounts by 14 months, this results in an average salary of 937 euros in Portugal and 1694 euros in the eurozone.
It means that a Portuguese earns only 55% of the average annual income of the 19 countries that are part of the single currency bloc and of which Portugal is a part.
Compared to the average annual disposable income of the European Union (EU) 27, which amounted to 20,894 euros, the difference is smaller. The salaries of the Portuguese represent 63% of the average income of Europeans.
Nevertheless, Portugal remains at the tail end of the EU. Average annual disposable income per adult was lower in only nine Member States, of which only three in the euro area: Czech Republic (€12,040), Lithuania (€11,888), Latvia (€11,240), Greece (€9,952), Poland (9,161 euros), Croatia (8,860 euros), Hungary (7,337 euros), Bulgaria (6,730 euros) and Romania (5,446 euros). Of these countries, only Greece and Latvia were part of the single currency in 2021. It should be remembered that Croatia joined the euro this year.
The study by the Eurozone statistics office into income inequality in the European Union (EU) also shows that there are large wage differences between countries. On the podium of the richest is Luxembourg with an average annual income of 48,220 euros, Denmark with 35,744 euros and Ireland with 31,832 euros.
Just above Portugal, Eurostat indicates Estonia with an average annual income of 14,218 euros, Slovenia with 16,597 euros and Spain with 18,103 euros.
According to Eurostat, equivalised disposable income is the total income of a household, after taxes and other deductions, divided by the number of household members converted into equal adults or made equivalent by weighting each of them according to their age, using made from the following modified OECD equivalence scale:
– first adult: 1
– second adult: 0.5
– each additional element of 14 years or older: 0.3
Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
