Lorenzo Macchi
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Italy
Earnings and wages in Italy - statistics & facts
The average wage in Italy is around 32,450 euros, ranking in the middle among European countries. Nevertheless, there are substantial differences among salaries in Italy, regarding various aspects. Some of the most relevant to take into consideration are regional and gender-based differences. More specifically, salaries in the northern and central regions are significantly higher compared to those in the south. In Lombardy, for instance, the annual gross salary is higher than in Basilicata by around 6,800 euros. A look at the wages in Italian regions shows that southern regions rank quite low, having salaries under the European average. Factors like high unemployment rates and lower life costs in some southern regions might explain such different figures. Also, such disparities could depict a much more complicated picture of the country. This picture is revealed, among others, in the economic gap between the northern and southern regions, which has complex historical roots.
Gender gap
The pay gap is one of the major indicators to determine the level of gender inequality of a given society. Despite a reduction in the differences between male and female wages, gender pay gap in Italy is still an issue. Overall, the gender pay gap nationwide is about 7.3 percent a year in favor of men. Different sectors registered various levels of pay gaps. Another factor revealing the poor inclusion of women in the job market in Italy is the unemployment rate. In fact, this indicator is higher among females than among males across all Italian regions. Some southern regions record the highest levels of unemployment for both males and females. However, Apulia registered the greatest gap between genders in terms of unemployment, with a difference of over six percentage points in 2023.Salary satisfaction
Employee opinions on earnings do not depict a particularly happy image. A recent report published in 2024 analyzed salary satisfaction providing results broken down by category. The average satisfaction of workers in Italy is overall relatively low. The highest degree of satisfaction attributed by the respondents is only 4.9 out of ten, which was the average employee satisfaction with their firms' salary competitiveness compared to similar companies. Likewise, when asked about the conditions under which they would accept a salary reduction, the largest share of employees (some 30 percent) did not point out any condition: they would not accept a cut in their wage for any benefits. On the contrary, a salary reduction might mean an investment in professional development for many employees. Some of the possible conditions indicated by the employees are a training program which would bring a wage increase later on, a company bonus based on individual goals, or some services to increase work-life balance.
