Insee Première · March 2025 · n° 2043

For the same annual volume of work, average net wage in the civil service was 3.7% lower than in the private sector

In 2021, average wage income in the civil service was 9.3% higher than in the private sector. This was because civil servants worked a higher average annual volume of work: although they work part-time more often, they experience far fewer work interruptions during the year, between two employment contracts for example.

For the same annual volume of work, civil service employees received an average net wage that was 3.7% lower than that of their counterparts in the private sector, despite their higher average age and level of qualification. This gap was favourable to them in 1995, but the average net wage in the private sector then grew faster than that in the civil service, so that it has exceeded it since 2013.

Wages in the private sector are more dispersed than in the public sector, with both more low-paid and more very high-paid employees. The pay gap between the most and least qualified employees, and between part-time and full-time employees, is greater in the private sector than in the public sector, even when other characteristics are identical. Conversely, the pay gap between fixed-term and permanent jobs is smaller in the private sector.