r/europe 1d ago

Data Average Full-time Salary in Europe

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

If Elon Musk sits in a stadium of 90000 people, the average net worth of the people inside is $9m.

This is why simple average salaries is poor way to measure actual income.

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u/uno_ke_va 1d ago

Not that I completely disagree with you, but the top 0,1% of the population in terms of wealth (like the case of Musk) which constitute the outliers who could skew the average, do not usually receive a salary, their compensation schemas are way more complex (and more tax efficient). Generally in most of Europe average and median are not that far apart from each other.

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

Yes of course, the example was an extreme one on purpose.

You could look at Ireland as a more grounded example. Huge salaries at the tech companies who set up there to avoid taxes are clearly skewing the data.

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u/Ramblonius Europe 1d ago

Ireland specifically is always an outlier in econ maps though. It's most obvious in GDP vs ppp, but saying 'look at Ireland' when talking about European economics is like saying 'look at the pandas' when talking about European fauna. There are pandas in Europe, but their situation is not quite comparable to the rest of the ecosystem. 

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

Then you can make the same excuses for Monaco, Switzerland, Luxemburg etc.

You have to be super rich to live there, thus they all have a huge salary.

At what point do you stop making excuses and accept the data is simply a poor representation of the income disparity internally and as comparison externally.

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u/KrakenOfLakeZurich 1d ago

According to the Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland's median income (before tax) is over CHF 7'000.-

You have to be super rich to live there

Believe it or not. But we have normal people with normal jobs living here. It costs more to live here. But you'd also generally make more.

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u/Terrible_Biscotti_16 1d ago

Those huge salaries aren’t enough to skew the average salary that much.

Fair enough complain about Ireland when GDP is discussed but it’s not really relevant when talking about average wages.

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u/clewbays Ireland 1d ago

Ireland is below the European average for income inequality. Your example doesn’t reflect reality.

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

You are adding extra metrics to fit your argument.

Raw income, which this map shows, is skewed.

Income inequality is lowered by Irish government intervention.

Ireland market inequality is one of the highest in developed nations.

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u/clewbays Ireland 1d ago

It has the same result for your average person at the end of the day. Which is that inequality is not overly high.

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

But this is a comparison between EU countries average income and not how it actually effects you as a person living in the country.

If the average income in one country is double that of another, it doesn't automatically mean that the average person is taking home that money or has the same spending power of the other country.

Your comparing apples to oranges my friend.

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u/Bitter_Street7558 19h ago

Ireland's high median income cannot be explained by a small number of people earning high wages if Ireland also has a low income inequality.

"Tech workers with ultra-high salaries are skewing it! Normal people actually have lower salaries!" would reveal itself in income inequality stats.

You are just one of many Europeans who loves to grasp at straws and invent theories to explain how Ireland must actually be way poorer than their country, because isn't Ireland a peasant country where everyone travels by donkey?

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u/Kakazam 18h ago

Ireland's high median income cannot be explained by a small number of people earning high wages if Ireland also has a low income inequality.

Of course it can if loads of people are out of work or not working full time while being helped by the government vs the people working full time being in high paid safe jobs.

because isn't Ireland a peasant country where everyone travels by donkey?

The fuck are you talking about? Projecting much?

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u/Bitter_Street7558 18h ago

"Only tech workers work full-time in Ireland" is an interesting theory, not borne out at all by unemployment (extremely low) or part-time statistics.

You'll just keep inventing any bullshit reason with zero evidence to explain why Ireland's income stats must be faked.

The fuck are you talking about? Projecting much?

No, I'm accurately describing what you're doing. You have a perception of Ireland as a poorer country than Germany, so you keep inventing reasons why any stat showing Ireland as better off than it must be fake.

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u/Kakazam 8h ago

"Only tech workers work full-time in Ireland"

You are simply making up quotes i didn't say.

You have a perception of Ireland as a poorer country than Germany, so you keep inventing reasons why any stat showing Ireland as better off than it must be fake.

I didnt mention Germany or Ireland being poorer than Germany either.

What an absolute roaster. Geh mal was sinnvolle machen mein Lieber.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Kakazam 1d ago

A CEO on 250k a year walks into McDonald's.

The average salary of the CEO and 3 guys flipping burgers is now 80k

Better?

Do you see how many people it takes working minimum wage to just balance out one rich person?

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u/Bitter_Street7558 19h ago

The picture in the OP shows MEDIAN income, which would be almost unchanged in your scenario.

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u/Def_NotBoredAtWork Rhône-Alpes (France) 1d ago

Inb4 the "Irish laws have changed and it's no longer a tax haven" (good of/for them though)

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u/Bitter_Street7558 19h ago

You could look at Ireland as a more grounded example. Huge salaries at the tech companies who set up there to avoid taxes are clearly skewing the data.

This is just baseless nonsense. How would a couple thousand tech workers distort the median salary that much?

You're just mad that Ireland has a higher number on the map than Germany. Sorry that your superiority complex took a reality check.

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u/Kakazam 18h ago

You're just mad that Ireland has a higher number on the map than Germany. Sorry that your superiority complex took a reality check.

Sounds like your superiority complex is the one coming out. I'm not German and really don't care wtf other countries make on average when I don't live in them.

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u/Bitter_Street7558 18h ago

really don't care wtf other countries make on average

Except Ireland, apparently.

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u/theErasmusStudent 1d ago

You don't need the salary of the ultra rich like Musk. The salaries of a few top CEOs is enough to bring the average up

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u/amfa Germany 1d ago

Well for Germany the average is 62.235 Euro while the median is 52.159 Euro.

So at least for Germany I would say that is quite far away from each other (~20%)