The most common salary in Spain was 14,586 euros in 2022 due to the rise in the minimum wage

The most common salary in Spain in 2022 was 14,586.4 euros gross, lower than in other years due to the increase in the minimum wage, which moved many low-wage workers into the 14,000-15,000 euro annual range, making this salary band the most common. Between 2018 and 2021, the most common annual gross salary exceeded 18,000 euros.

This is reflected in the '2022 Structural Salary Survey' by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published this Monday, which indicates that this most common gross salary of 14,586 euros was received by 4.2% of employees.

However, the INE explains that similar frequencies were also recorded for salaries of 16,495.8 euros, also received by 4.2% of employees, and 18,494.3 euros, received by 4.1% of employees. Thus, in total, one in five employees (20.5%) earned between 14,000 and 19,000 euros annually in 2022.

According to Statistics, the average annual salary per worker was 26,948.87 euros in 2022, a 4.1% increase from the previous year. With this increase, there have now been nine consecutive years of average salary growth.

The INE notes that a characteristic of salary distribution functions is that there are many more workers at lower values than at higher salaries. This fact means that the average salary is higher than both the median salary and the most common salary.

Thus, the median salary (which divides the number of workers into two equal parts: those with a higher salary and those with a lower salary) reached 22,383.11 euros annually in 2022, compared to the average salary of 26,948 euros and the most common salary of 14,586 euros.

The average annual gross salary for men was 29,381.8 euros in 2022, a 3.5% increase from 2021, while for women it increased by 5.1%, reaching 24,359.8 euros. Despite growing at a faster rate, the average annual female salary represents 82.9% of the male salary (81.6% in 2021). However, the INE emphasizes that this wage difference narrows when considering similar job positions.

Thus, the gender pay gap stood at 8.96% in 2022, down from 11.28% in 2018.

One in four women (24.3%) earned an annual salary less than or equal to the minimum wage in 2022, a proportion much lower among men at one in ten (10.3%).