Pay developments – 2006

This review of pay trends in Europe in 2005 and 2006 finds that average collectively-agreed nominal wage increases across the EU rose from 4.9% in 2005 to 5.6% in 2006. When inflation is taken into account, the rate of real increase rose from 1.9% in 2005 to 2.7% in 2006. However, the data show that there are considerable differences between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ EU Member States, in terms of both pay trends and the level of pay increases. The review also looks at collectively-agreed pay increases in three selected sectors (metalworking, banking and local government), current wage rates and minimum wage increases, and the extent of the gender pay gap across all countries.