Over this 23-year period, annual wages in Spain fluctuated greatly, ranging from a low of 29,892 euros in 2006 to a high of approximately 33,253 euros in 2009. The average annual wage stood at approximately 31,945 euros in 2023. Compared to other European countries, Spain ranked fairly low in 2023. The annual salary in the Iberian country was similar to salaries in Italy and Slovenia, but remained far from the figures that were registered in France, Ireland, and Germany. Minimum wage Spain's minimum monthly wage was 1,134 euros as of 2024. Unlike the average annual wage, it has been constantly increasing on a nearly continuous basis since 2008, when the minimum wage was 600 euros per month. In 2019, the Socialist government of Spain passed a law by that increased the national minimum wage by 164 euros, therefore making it stand at 900 euros per month and reflecting the largest increase to date. Along with the monthly wage, the national minimum daily wage has also been raised consistently over the past years. In 2024, the gross minimum was 37.8 euros a day, whereas in 2000 it was 20 euros a day. Unequal pay The average salary in Spain diverges considerably according to different factors. For instance, the gender salary gap remains significant in the Mediterranean country, although it has shrunk in recent years. In 2022, the average salary for a male full-time employee was around nine percent higher than his female counterpart. The gender gap is even wider for permanent positions: that year, average annual salaries for women were roughly 6,000 euros less than average salaries for men. The salary gap is also conspicuous when looking at the wage for workers with disabilities, a gap that has increased in recent years. Geographic location is also important; the average net salary in regions such as Extremadura and the Canary Islands was less than 23,100 euros per year in 2022, far from the salary in the Basque Country and Madrid (32,300 and 31,200 euros, respectively).

The national minimum wage per month in Spain increased steadily over the last years. The minimum monthly wage grew by about 89 percent from 2008 to 2024, with salaries increasing from 600 euros a month to 1,134 euros a month in 2023. In 2019, the Socialist government of Spain passed a decree by which the national minimum wage would be given a boost of 164 euros, therefore making it stand at 900 euros per month as of that year, the largest increase to date.

Salaries in Spain

Along with the monthly wage, the national minimum daily wage also grew consistently over the past years, with the gross minimum standing at 37.8 euros a day in 2024 relative to 20 euros a day in 2008. Annual wages in Spain have however not followed this trend and fluctuated greatly during the same period. The highest average wage registered in Spain took place in 2009, year in which the mean salary amounted to over 30,000 euros a year after a period of ongoing growth. Spanish salaries however initiated a downtrend that prompted the average worker to earn approximately 29,113 thousand euros a year in 2022.

Salaries in Europe

Iceland ranked as the European country that featured the highest salaries in 2022, with an average wage of approximately 79,473 euros a year. Luxembourg and Switzerland followed second and third, with average salaries of 78,000 and 73,000 a year, respectively. In terms of growth, Portugal ranked as the country that saw the lowest decrease in salaries in 2022 compared to the previous year, with a development of -0.2 percent more relative to 2021, during that year, no European country registered an increase in real wages.

Wages in Spain increased 3.52 percent in December of 2024 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides - Spain Wage Growth- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The average pre-tax income of the top ten percent earners in Spain was over 95,500 euros at purchasing power parity (PPP) as of 2022, almost nine times more than the average income of the bottom half earners. Looking at the distribution of national income in Spain, the earnings of the least affluent half of the population equated to 21 percent of the total country income in 2022, 0.1 percentage points less than one decade earlier. Moreover, the top one percent of earners in Spain accounted for over ten percent of the overall national income.

Average gross taxable income per household (€) in the city of Barcelona based on the experimental project Atlas de distribución de la renta de los hogares of Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)

Average gross taxable income per person (€) in the city of Barcelona based on the experimental project Atlas de distribución de la renta de los hogares of Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)

In 2019, employees in the tourism sector in the Spanish city of Barcelona earned on average 74.8 euros per day. The transportation industry paid the based within that sector, with a daily wage of over 100 euros. The number of people working in tourism activities in Barcelona that year was at 150 thousand.

Median tax income per unit of consumption (€) in the city of Barcelona based on the experimental project Atlas de distribución de la renta de los hogares of Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)

In the 2020/2021 season, FC Barcelona had the highest average annual pay per player with approximately 11 million euros. Real Madrid followed closely behind, with average wages amounting to nearly 10 million euros in the same season.

Soccer players’ salaries

Professional footballers playing in the most competitive leagues globally can earn millions throughout their career. For example, best-paid players in La Liga can make more than two million euros per month. Looking at wages and bonuses alone, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard were among the highest earning soccer players worldwide in 2021.

Spanish soccer market

In addition to the fervor that soccer creates amongst spectators of the sport, the industry also generates a lot of money. For instance, the Spanish Football Association reported nearly two billion euros in revenue in the 2020/21 season, with broadcasting rights accounting for around 90 percent of that amount. FC Barcelona topped the charts when it came to revenue earned from Spanish soccer clubs’ television broadcasting rights.

In 2023, the average annual net household income in Spain was 34,821 euros. Far from the national average was the net household income in the southern regions of Extremadura and Andalusia, where it was less than 30,000 euros. The community with the highest average income was Madrid, with more than 42,900 euros.

In 2023, the average annual net income per capita for individuals aged 30-44 amounted to approximately 14,078 euros. The 65 and over age group has the highest average annual net income at 16,185 euros, which was five thousand euros higher than the 16 to 29 age group at 10,129 euros.

In 2023/24, Frenkie de Jong was FC Barcelona's highest earner, with an estimated annual salary of 37.5 million euros. Meanwhile, Portuguese defender João Cancelo earned around 12.5 million euros per year.

In the summer transfer period for the 2023/2024 season of La Liga, Real Madrid was allowed to spend up to roughly 727.5 million euros on salaries, setting the highest spending limit among the 20 soccer teams in the Spanish top-tier soccer league in that season. Atlético de Madrid had the second-highest salary cap, while the FC Barcelona ranked third with a limit of 270 million euros.

The salary cap, known as ‘límite de coste de la plantilla deportiva (LCPD)’ in Spain, is approved by La Liga based on a proposal for the upcoming season given by each club. To calculate the final amount, the clubs’ expected revenues and their non-sport expenses are considered.

FC Barcelona: struggling financially?

The FC Barcelona’s net profit in 2022/2023 was the highest recorded since over one decade, surpassing 350 million euros. Versus the previous season, this represented an increase of 260 percent. Meanwhile, the Spanish club’s operating revenue also reached a record of 1.26 billion euros. Nonetheless, FC Barcelona lost one spot in the annual salary cap ranking in the 2023/2024 season.

La Liga’s transfer spending

With total transfer fees amounting to over 700 million euros in the 2023 season, the Spanish soccer market’s spending remained below pre-pandemic levels, though significantly higher than in 2020 and 2021. In those years, this spending dropped more than 63 percent and 76 percent versus 2019, reaching the lowest spending since 2013. Behind the English Premier League, La Liga is the second most valuable soccer market among European leagues.

Renters in Spain spent an average of 43 percent of their salary on house rent in 2023. The least affordable autonomous communities to rent a house Madrid and the Balearic Islands, where rental dwellings required roughly 62 percent of the average gross salary. On the other hand, the autonomous region of Extremadura was the least financially demanding, with a share of 23 percent.

The house price to income ratio index in Spain increased by about 15 index points between 2015 and the second quarter of 2024. The ratio measures the development of housing affordability and is calculated by dividing nominal house price by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 set as a base year when the index amounted to 100. Spain's index score in the second quarter of 2024 amounted to 115.5, which means that house price growth has outpaced income growth by more than 15 percent since 2015. This was slightly higher than the Euro area 17 average.

In 2022, the average net personal wealth among the most affluent one percent of Spanish population was 3.15 million euros. On the other side, the wealth of bottom 50 percent of the wealth holders in the country was estimated at 17,300 euros. When looking at the evolution of wealth distribution in Spain during the last decades, it can be observed, that the share of wealth held by the least affluent half of the population is now lower than it was at the beginning of the 21th century.

The statistic ranks sports teams from all over the world by the average pay per player in the 2018/19 season. The FC Barcelona of the NBA had the highest average player salary with players making an average of 12.28 million U.S. dollars in 2018/19.

In 2023, PSG's Nikola Karabatić was the highest-paid handball player worldwide, earning a reported 1.8 million euros per year. His brother, Luka, was the second-highest-paid player, with an estimated annual salary of 1.5 million euros.