The Dutch earn the third highest full-time wage in the EU, according to Eurostat.

Eurostat analysed the mean (average) gross annual earnings of full-time employees in enterprises with ten or more employees. In 2009 the highest average earnings were in Denmark (56.044 euros), followed by Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany (all above 40.000 euros). The lowest wages were in Bulgaria (4.085 euros) and Romania (5.450 euros).

The Netherlands also had the third highest minimum wage out of EU Member States as at July 1, 2010. At that time, a total of 20 of the 27 EU Member States had national legislation setting a minimum wage (all except Denmark, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden).

However, in 2009 the Netherlands had a larger gender gap in earnings than the EU member states average; women were paid 17% less than men. Eurostat found the biggest differences in Estonia, the Czech Republic and Austria (more than 25%). The smallest gaps were found in Slovenia, Italy, Malta, Romania, Belgium, and Poland (less than 10%).

› For more information and statistics press here.