Wages in the private sector In 2016, the average net wage increased by 0.5% in constant euros

In 2016, the average net monthly wage per full-time equivalent in the private sector reached 2,238 net euros. It increased by 0.5% in constant euros (after +1.1% in 2015). This growth is steeper for executives.

Half of the employees in the private sector earned less than 1,789 euros monthly per full-time equivalent. At the tails of the distribution, the lowest paid 10% earned less than 1,189 monthly (1st decile), whereas the highest paid 10% received more than 3,576 euros (9th decile). Wage increases were slightly stronger at the top of the distribution in 2016, which augmented moderately the wage discrepancies, in line with the trend of recent years. Thus, the 9th wage decile increased by 0.5% in 2016, and by 5.0% since 2008, while the first decile increased by 0.1% in 2016 and by 2.3% since 2008.

Women’s net wages per full-time equivalent were 18.9% lower on average than those of men (excluding State-subsidized contracts and vocational training contracts). This gender wage gap continued to decrease, by 0.3 point since 2015, and by 3.4 points since 2002.

The wage of workers present in the same establishment from January 1st, 2015 to December 31st, 2016, who represented just over half of the private sector employees, increased by 2.0% in constant euros. This increase largely reflects career advancements and seniority gains of this group, where open-ended contracts, men, and full time jobs are over-represented.