The average salary in Spain falls 0.2% in 2014, to €22,606

The average Spanish salary fell slightly in 2014, continuing a downward trend that began in 2012, when the government introduced sweeping labor reforms.

Spanish workers made a gross annual salary of €22,605 on average, representing a 0.2 percent contraction from 2013, according to figures released this week by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Wages accounted for 73.75% of the total cost per worker, which was gross €30,653 in 2014, or 0.6% less than the previous year, the 2014 Annual Labor Cost Survey finds.

This salary setback is somewhat offset by weaker prices, caused by falling oil prices.

Broken down by activities, employees in the energy industry once again enjoyed the highest salaries. This supremacy of the energy sector is routinely confirmed by all labor surveys conducted in Spain.

The average salary in the energy sector was around €58,000, more than twice the national average. Next in the top-earning chart are workers from the banking, finance and insurance sectors, who take home an average €43,575.

Most of the non-wage labor costs were taken up by Social Security contributions (€7,005 per worker), followed by corporate benefits, work expenses, severance pay and training.

English version by Susana Urra.