As of 2021, the European countries who had the greatest share of their national income taken by the top 10 percent of earners were Turkey, Russia, and Armenia, with high earners in these countries taking home around half of all income. By contrast, the top decile in Slovakia, Iceland, and the Netherlands took home a share of national income almost half as large, at between 26 and 29 percent. On average, the top 10 percent in Europe took home over a third of national income, while the bottom half earned less than a fifth.

Definition: The 90/10 decile ratio is a measure of the inequality of distribution. It is determined here in relation to the distribution of equivalised income. It sets the lower limit of the equivalised income of the highest-income decile (= upper limit of the 9. The ratio of the equivalised income of the lowest-income decile. Equivalised income is a weighted per capita income per household member, which is calculated by dividing household net income by the sum of the household weights of persons living in the household. The head of the household is assigned the weight = 1, for the other household members weights of < 1 are used because it is assumed that savings can be achieved through joint management. The new OECD scale is used as a scale of equivalence to determine the respective weights. After that, the head of household is assigned a weight of 1, other household members aged 14 or more a weight of 0.5 and household members under the age of 14 are assigned a weight of 0.3. In order to form the income decile, all persons are sorted according to the level of equivalised income and divided into ten equal groups. The first decile contains the 10 percent with the lowest, the tenth with the highest equivalised income.

Data source:
IT.NRW, Microcensus

Women and Men in Spain: Distribution of households by income level and type of household in the EU. Annual. National.

The period from 1980 to 2023 saw an increase in the share of national income in Europe taken by the top 10 percent of earners. This period has generally been categorized by economists as a period of rising income inequality, especially when compared with the postwar period (1945-1970s) in Europe which saw a compression of the income distribution, with the middle classes in particular making large gains. As financial and labor markets were liberalized in the 1980s and as the effects of economic globalization took hold, however, a growing share of income went to the top earners. This European trend mirrors increases in inequality across the globe during this period, with the United States seeing a particularly sharp rise in the share taken by its top one percent. Rising income inequality has been linked to the rise of populism in Europe throughout the 2000s and 2010s, as voters sought to hit back at economic elites.

Average net earnings in the European Union was 26,136 Euros for a single person with no children in 2022, while for a couple with children who both worked it was 55,573 Euros. Among countries in Europe, Switzerland was the country with the highest net earnings in 2022, followed by Iceland, Luxembourg, and Norway. The lowest net earnings were found in Bulgaria and Romania, where a single person without children earned on average less than 9,000 Euros in 2022.

This statistic displays the income distribution of the poorest 25 percent of earners in each European Union (EU) country. In 2015 the highest share of national equalized income that the lowest quartile group earned emerged from Czechia at 13.4 percent of the national income. This was followed by Finland and Slovenia at 13.1 percent and 12.8 percent respectively.

This table describes the income distribution of the sector households in the national accounts over different household groups. Households are identified by main source of income, living situation, household composition, age classes of the head of the household, income class by 20% groups, and net worth class by 20% groups.

Data available from: 2015.

Status of the figures: All data are provisional.

Changes as of October 19th 2023: The figures of 2015-2020 are revised, because national accounts figures are changed due to the revision policy of Statistics Netherlands. Results for 2021 are added to the table.

When will new figures be published? New figures will be released in October 2024.

This statistic displays the income distribution of the wealthiest 25 percent of earners in each European Union (EU) country. In 2015 the highest share of national equalized income that the top quartile group earned emerged from Lithuania at 50.6 percent of the national income. This was followed by Bulgaria and Romania at 49.9 percent and 49.1 percent respectively.

DEN03 - Annual Income Distribution. Published by Central Statistics Office. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0).Annual Income Distribution...

Table of INEBase Gini Index and Income Distribution P80/P20. Annual. Municipalities. Household Income Distribution Atlas

Inequality of income distribution S80/S20 income quintile share ratio - EU-SILC and ECHP surveys

Ireland - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey was 69.40% in December of 2023, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Ireland - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey - last updated from the EUROSTAT on March of 2025. Historically, Ireland - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey reached a record high of 81.80% in December of 2004 and a record low of 68.40% in December of 2014.

Germany - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey was 47.30% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Germany - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey - last updated from the EUROSTAT on March of 2025. Historically, Germany - Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group - EU-SILC survey reached a record high of 53.40% in December of 2011 and a record low of 46.50% in December of 2022.

This statistic displays the income distribution of the third quartile of earners in each European Union (EU) country. In 2015 the highest share of the national equalized income that this group earned emerged from Slovakia at 26.9 percent of the national income. This was followed by Sweden and Belgium at 26.8 percent and 26.6 percent respectively.

Analysis of ‘Gini Index and Income Distribution P80/P20. ADRH (API identifier: 37716)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/urn-ine-es-tabla-t3-507-37716 on 19 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Table of Experimental Statistics. Gini Index and Income Distribution P80/P20. Annual. Municipalities. Household Income Distribution Atlas

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Median consumption by income decile - experimental statistics

Abstract

In 2006, the EU-SILC instrument covered all EU Member States plus Iceland, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia. EU-SILC has become the EU reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the "Program of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion" and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council. The first priority is to be given to the delivery of comparable, timely and high quality cross-sectional data.

There are two types of datasets: 1) Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions. 2) Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically - usually over four years.

Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components included in the "Household" section. Labor, education and health observations only apply to persons aged 16 and over. EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coordination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.

The fourth revision of the 2006 Cross-Sectional User Database is documented here.

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals 16 years and older.

Universe

The survey covered all household members over 16 years old. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

On the basis of various statistical and practical considerations and the precision requirements for the most critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be achieved were defined. Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least a majority of the household members aged 16 or over are successfully interviewed in both the years.

For the cross-sectional component, the plans are to achieve the minimum effective sample size of around 131.000 households in the EU as a whole (137.000 including Iceland and Norway). The allocation of the EU sample among countries represents a compromise between two objectives: the production of results at the level of individual countries, and production for the EU as a whole. Requirements for the longitudinal data will be less important. For this component, an effective sample size of around 98.000 households (103.000 including Iceland and Norway) is planned.

Member States using registers for income and other data may use a sample of persons (selected respondents) rather than a sample of complete households in the interview survey. The minimum effective sample size in terms of the number of persons aged 16 or over to be interviewed in detail is in this case taken as 75 % of the figures shown in columns 3 and 4 of the table I, for the cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

The reference is to the effective sample size, which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling (design effect in relation to the 'risk of poverty rate' variable = 1.0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1.0 and to compensate for all kinds of non-response. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained. For countries with a sample of persons design, information on income and other data shall be collected for the household of each selected respondent and for all its members.

At the beginning, a cross-sectional representative sample of households is selected. It is divided into say 4 sub-samples, each by itself representative of the whole population and similar in structure to the whole sample. One sub-sample is purely cross-sectional and is not followed up after the first round. Respondents in the second sub-sample are requested to participate in the panel for 2 years, in the third sub-sample for 3 years, and in the fourth for 4 years. From year 2 onwards, one new panel is introduced each year, with request for participation for 4 years. In any one year, the sample consists of 4 sub-samples, which together constitute the cross-sectional sample. In year 1 they are all new samples; in all subsequent years, only one is new sample. In year 2, three are panels in the second year; in year 3, one is a panel in the second year and two in the third year; in subsequent years, one is a panel for the second year, one for the third year, and one for the fourth (final) year.

According to the Commission Regulation on sampling and tracing rules, the selection of the sample will be drawn according to the following requirements:

1. For all components of EU-SILC (whether survey or register based), the crosssectional and longitudinal (initial sample) data shall be based on a nationally representative probability sample of the population residing in private households within the country, irrespective of language, nationality or legal residence status. All private households and all persons aged 16 and over within the household are eligible for the operation.
2. Representative probability samples shall be achieved both for households, which form the basic units of sampling, data collection and data analysis, and for individual persons in the target population.
3. The sampling frame and methods of sample selection shall ensure that every individual and household in the target population is assigned a known and non-zero probability of selection.
4. By way of exception, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply in Germany exclusively to the part of the sample based on probability sampling according to Article 8 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1177/2003 concerning

Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Article 8 of the EU-SILC Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council mentions: 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based on nationally representative probability samples. 2. By way of exception to paragraph 1, Germany shall supply cross-sectional data based on a nationally representative probability sample for the first time for the year 2008. For the year 2005, Germany shall supply data for one fourth based on probability sampling and for three fourths based on quota samples, the latter to be progressively replaced by random selection so as to achieve fully representative probability sampling by 2008. For the longitudinal component, Germany shall supply for the year 2006 one third of longitudinal data (data for year 2005 and 2006) based on probability sampling and two thirds based on quota samples. For the year 2007, half of the longitudinal data relating to years 2005, 2006 and 2007 shall be based on probability sampling and half on quota sample. After 2007 all of the longitudinal data shall be based on probability sampling.

Detailed information about sampling is available in Quality Reports in Documentation.

Mode of data collection

Mixed

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) is an instrument aimed at collecting timely and comparable cross-sectional and longitudinal multidimensional microdata on income, poverty and social exclusion. It is the European Union (EU) reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the 'Programme of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion' and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council.

The EU-SILC instrument aims to provide two types of data: cross-sectional data pertaining to a given time or a certain time period with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and other living conditions, and longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically over, typically, a four years period. Further information may be found on the EU-SILC webpage.

Users should note that only the cross-sectional data are currently available from the UK Data Archive, and these data only cover UK. The Great Britain component of the EU-SILC dataset was collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) (held at the Archive under Special Licence access conditions - see GN 33403). Following the closure of the GLF in 2012 the cross-sectional data have been collected via the Family Resources Survey (FRS) (held at the Archive under GN 33283). The FRS also provides the first wave of the EU-SILC longitudinal element, also carried out by ONS. The Northern Ireland component is collected by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) as part of the Living Conditions Survey (LCS) (not currently held at the Archive). The EU-SILC dataset has been produced in accordance with EU regulations under guidance from Eurostat. In addition, every year a European Commission regulation describing the list of secondary target variables (annual modules) is published (see Main Topics section for details).

The accompanying documentation for EU-SILC comprises: a Guidelines document that describes the survey, the variables including the module and recommendations given to the EU member states for data collection; and a document detailing the differences between the data collected and that held in Eurostat's User Database (UDB) (as described in the guidelines) for all member states, including the already established issues or particularities for the UK.


Main Topics:
The data contains interview survey data for adults aged 16 years and over, plus basic demographic information for children in the register files. These variables cover topics such as:

• basic personal and household data
• child care
• dwelling type, tenure status and housing conditions
• housing costs and amenities
• housing and non-housing related arrears
• non-monetary household deprivation indicators
• physical and social environment
• household and personal level income
• education
• health and access to healthcare
• labour information

Additionally, each year there is an annual module. The modules for 2008 and 2009 are:

• 2008: over-indebtedness and financial exclusion
• 2009: material deprivation

Dataset replaced by: http://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/6lGHMjcpw6T20iNEnvzeOA The ratio of total income received by the 20 % of the population with the highest income (top quintile) to that received by the 20 % of the population with the lowest income (lowest quintile). Income must be understood as equivalised disposable income.

This statistic displays the income distribution of the second percentile of earners in each European Union (EU) country. In 2015 the highest share of the national equalized income that this group earned emerged from Slovakia at 21 percent of the national income. This was followed by Slovenia and Sweden at 20.4 percent and 20.3 percent respectively.