“Despite the increase of €1,600 between 2023 and 2024, the average salary of Portuguese workers remained 38% below the average salary of the European Union, which stood at €39,800,” indicated the Business Roundtable Portugal Association in a statement, quoted by Executive Digest.

According to the data, an average worker in the European Union earns about 60% more than a worker in Portugal. The statistics reveal that, even with a 7% increase in average annual salaries in Portugal in 2024, it was not enough to reach the European average.

The report released reveals that the national average salary in 2024 was about 6% lower than that practised by competing countries — Spain, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic — whose average remuneration was €26,300, €1,500 more than in Portugal.

According to the same analysis, the salary difference between Portugal and the European Union can be explained by factors such as the social structure of employment, that is, in recent years, employment has grown in sectors with lower average salaries.

In Portugal, the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector offers the highest salaries (above €40,000) and saw a 42% increase in the number of workers between 2020 and 2024.

Also noteworthy are the energy, environment, and transport sectors (both with average annual salaries of €33,000) and industry (€25,800).