The average gross salary in the Spanish economy gained 1.5% in purchasing power in 2023 after rising by 5.1% to an all-time high of €1,914 per month, according to a study by The Adecco Group Institute, the Adecco Group's research and dissemination centre.
This 5.1% increase in the average wage in 2023 is €92 more per month than in 2022, i.e. €1,107 more per year. In addition to the year-on-year increases of the last seven years (2017-2023, with 2020 – the year of Covid – being the only exception in this period, with a decrease of 3%).
According to Adecco, the annual increase in the average salary in 2023 is the second highest on record (2008-2023), behind only that of 2021 (+6.6%). The average wage barely varied between 2011 and 2017, where it ranged between €1,630 and €1,640 per month.
If we compare the average salary in 2023 with that of 2018, it has increased by 15.4% or, in other words, €256 more per month or €3,072 more per year. Discounting the CPI variation of the salary evolution, the consultancy firm concludes that the average salary has gained 1.5% of purchasing power, which means a gain of €335 per year.
However, when compared with 2018, wages' purchasing power has fallen by 0.6% (-€136 per year), and when compared with 2008, the purchasing power of the average wage in 2023 is 5.6% lower.
Estate agents, leaders in purchasing power gains
Only seven of the 18 activity sections in the study have seen their purchasing power increase. Real estate is the activity with the highest increase in purchasing power in this period, 8.3% in the last five years, followed by education (+4.9%), other services (+4.2%) and public administration (+3.5%).
On the other hand, the sector most affected by the loss of purchasing power is health and social services (-6.6%), followed by manufacturing (-6.3%), extractive industries (-5.8%) and finance and insurance (-5.6%). Construction professionals also lost purchasing power, after registering a decline of 4.4% year-on-year during 2023.
In terms of average salary, real estate activities recorded a higher average than the economy as a whole at €1,994 gross per month, which places it as the eighth highest figure in the ranking of the 18 sub-sectors.
At the top of the ranking are gas and electricity, with €4,071 gross/month, finance and insurance (€3,446/month), information and communications (€2,915 gross) and mining and quarrying (€2,706). The other activities are below €2,500, with administrative activities and hotels and restaurants registering the lowest average (below €1,400 gross per month in both cases).
The study also shows that the wage gap between the largest and smallest companies in 2023 was approximately €605 per month (€7,255/year), which in relative terms is equivalent to a gap of 37%, the same as in 2022, but lower than the 41% in 2021 and 43% in 2018.
In 2023, an average full-time worker earned €2,201 per month, always in gross terms, while a part-time worker earned €913 per month. Over the last five years, the purchasing power of the average full-time wage has decreased by 2.5%, while the average part-time wage has increased by 4%.
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