Eurostat: Average Annual Salary in EU Stood at €33,500 in 2021
According to Eurostat, the European Office for Statistics, this indicator is used to determine the average annual salary across all Member States as well as granting working permits to skilled workers, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The Directive is used to attract highly skilled workers to the EU under more flexible admission conditions, including enhanced rights and the possibility of being mobile, indicating moving easier to another EU Member State for all Blue Card holders.
The indicator is a combination of the data from the national accounts and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and it is adjusted by considering part-time salaries as full-time equivalents.
Countries with an average annual salary less than €20,000 include Hungary (€12,620), Romania (€13,000), Poland (€14,430), Greece (€15,880), Slovakia (€16,160), Croatia (€16,170), Czechia (€18,710) and Portugal (€19,300).
Countries with an average annual salary between €20,000 and €30,000 include the following:
- Estonia (€21,480)
- Lithuania (€21,740)
- Cyprus (€22,730)
- Malta (€27,330)
- Spain (€28,180)
- Slovenia (€28,760)
- Italy (€29,950)
In addition to Luxembourg, which has the highest average annual salary, Denmark and Ireland have the higher annual salary rates in Europe, a total of €63,260 and €50,350, respectively.
The remaining countries; Belgium, Austria, and Sweden have an average annual salary between €48,720 and €46,930 while Germany, Finland and France have salaries of €44,440, €43,190 and €40,130, respectively.
At the beginning of the year, the Member States increased the minimums of EU Blue Card Salary, which is the minimum salary required from EU employers to pay their workers from third countries.
Germany has increased the minimum salary requirements for first-time applications and renewals raising the annual salary for non-shortage occupations to €56,800 from €55,200 while shortage occupations will have an annual salary of €44,304 from €43,056.
The Netherlands has also raised its annual salary threshold for 2022, which was up from €5,403 to €5,567.
“The wage of foreigners already holding an EU Blue Card or Highly Skilled Migrant permit does not have to be raised to meet the 2021 salary level. Only if a renewal must be filed, the new salary threshold must be earned,” advises Newland Chase, a Dutch-based immigration firm.
The EU Blue Card scheme was established in 2009, through which the EU intends to attract skilled workers from non-EU countries and grant them the right to work and reside in an EU country. Denmark and Ireland are the only two countries not participating in this scheme.
