In 2021, 66.5 percent of European citizens saw their net income remain relatively stable compared to 2020, 17.5 percent saw a salary increase, while 16 percent saw their net salary shrink, according to data released by Eurostat.

In all Member States, more than half of the population of these countries maintained their incomes last year, with percentages ranging from 50.7 percent in Cyprus to 84 percent in Italy.

As for Portugal, it is in line with the European average, with 61.8 percent of Portuguese people maintaining their income in 2021 compared to 2020, while 20.3 percent saw their net income increase and 18 percent recorded a drop in income.

Among the Member States, the Czech Republic was the EU country with the highest percentage of citizens reporting a salary increase (34.8%), followed by Sweden (32.3%) and Romania, and Slovenia (both with 27 %). At the opposite end of the pole are Italy (4.9%), Greece (6.9%), and Spain (10.4%).

Cyprus was the EU country with the highest percentage of citizens to record a wage drop in the past compared to 2020 (27.6%), followed by Greece (26.3%) and Latvia (24.4%). At the opposite pole is Romania (only 5.4% of citizens have seen their salaries shrink), followed by Belgium (9.4%) and Italy (11.1%).