• Around 60% of employees in Cyprus earn less than €1,500. Where does Eurostat find the €2,500?
• Statistics are one thing; the average salary of the average household is another.
• The truth is reflected only through the distribution of wages.
• A. Matsas: In manufacturing, hotels, construction, and trade, average gross earnings stand at €1,760.

When last June the Ministry of Labour, citing Eurostat data, stated that the average monthly salary had increased by 13% over the past two years, approaching €2.5 thousand, and that the median salary had increased by almost 11.5%, approaching €1,900, Brief challenged the narrative of the competent Ministry. It looked behind the Brussels figures and the data of the Ministry of Labour and identified the truth. No one disputed the findings.

The Economic Research Department of SEK, within the framework of a related study, points out, based on its own analysis, that while average gross earnings of employees show a continuous increase, the upward trajectory of earnings for many workers is nevertheless not what would be expected.

The study notes that the majority of workers in the labour market earn well below the average level of gross earnings. Only 37% of those employed, it adds, receive earnings above €2,500, while the remaining 63% earn below €2,500.

Average gross earnings for the 63% of employees at the end of 2024 amounted to €1,895, in contrast to the remaining 37% of employees, whose average gross monthly earnings stood at €3,520.

In sectors such as manufacturing, hotels, catering, trade, and construction, which employ 40% of the workforce, average gross earnings were €1,760. By contrast, in sectors such as financial services and information and communication, which employ 10.6% of workers, average gross earnings stood at €4,463.

According to the Economic Research Department of SEK, the study shows that growth is distributed unevenly across different sectors and, consequently, across employees’ earnings.

The data come at a time when business profitability continues its upward trend, rising from 17.4% of GDP at the end of 2010 to 26.1% of GDP at the end of 2024, while the share of earnings follows a downward path, falling from 47.6% of GDP in 2010 to 44.1% of GDP in 2024.

Andreas Matsas, General Secretary of SEK, speaking to Brief, points out that the findings of the study confirm the need for further improvement in the level of the minimum wage, as well as in its hourly rate. He notes that more than 50% of workers are unable to cover their basic living needs.

“Let’s not hide behind words. The average monthly salary can never statistically reflect the full reality, because many factors come into play that relate mainly to the cost of living and less to actual earnings,” adds the General Secretary of SEK.

It is noted that Brief had previously pointed out, based on its own analysis, that the government’s calculation included several thousand employees working for international companies of all kinds, whose average monthly salary ranges between €5 thousand and €10 thousand.

In addition, based on data from social insurance contributions, it is clearly documented that there are executives and employees of international companies who enjoy salaries that, in many cases, reach €15 thousand per month.