High wages in the private sector More often managers than footballers and traders euros

In 2017, the top 1% of the highest paid employees in the private sector earned more than €8,680 net per month per full-time equivalent. This amount corresponds to 7.5 times the minimum wage. This top 1%, which consisted of 163 000 wage earners, did not form a homogeneous group of occupations and showed strong disparities in wages. At the very top of the salary scale, the top 1,000 of the highest paid employees earned more than 89,530 euros net per month. Mostly men, older than 50 years and often working in Paris or in the Hauts-de-Seine department, the top 1% employees held management or executive positions in companies and banks. At the very top of the distribution, among the 1000 highest paid employees, the share of managers, senior executives in large companies and executives in the financial sector increased while the share of other executives decreased; the share of sportsmen also increased notably.

In 2017, the top 1% of the highest paid employees accounted for 8.0% of the total private sector payroll. This share had been increasing since the end of the 90’s, mainly due to the highest wages. Over this period, the rise was shortly interrupted by the 20008-2009 crisis.

In 2017, 1% of all workers (private and public sectors, self-employed) earned a monthly average income greater than 9,490 euros. Among them, 42% are self-employed, mainly self-employed physicians or advocates.