The EU gender pay gap remains significant: women earn 11.1% less per hour than men, which translates to almost €3,900 less per year for the average employed woman. ETUC estimates put the collective annual loss for EU women at more than €358 billion. The Pay Transparency Directive (firms with 100+ employees) was intended to address this but most member states missed the 7 June 2026 deadline. ETUC says even a 10% narrowing of the gap would deliver meaningful pay gains and warns governments may face legal action if they fail to implement the directive.
EU Gender Pay Gap Costs Women Nearly €3,900 a Year — ETUC: €358 Billion Lost Across the Bloc
Cost of pay gap in the EU: Women earn €3,900 less than men a year
The gender pay gap in the European Union is substantial and costly, according to Eurostat data and analysis by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). On average, women earn 11.1% less per hour than men in the EU — meaning a woman receives about €88.90 for every €100 a man earns.
Key Figures
Annualised, this hourly gap translates into a loss of almost €3,900 per year for the average employed woman (ETUC estimate: €3,881). Across the workforce, the ETUC calculates that the 92.5 million women working in the EU are collectively losing more than €358 billion a year.
"The cost of pay transparency measures are small for companies but this analysis shows that inaction by national governments will cost women workers billions in lost wages," ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch said.
Country Breakdown
The ETUC figures use the scope of the EU Pay Transparency Directive (which targets firms with 100+ employees) to estimate losses for around 43 million women in that category. Losses vary sharply between member states:
- Luxembourg is the only EU country where women earn slightly more than men (about €474 more annually; gap: -0.8%).
- At the top of the loss scale, the average employed woman loses over €5,000 a year in Finland (€7,592), Austria (€6,854), Germany (€6,049) and Sweden (€5,116).
- Other countries with annual shortfalls above the EU average (€3,881) include Estonia (€4,967), France (€4,536), Czechia (€4,499) and Ireland (€4,129).
- Mid-range losses include the Netherlands (€3,684), Slovakia (€3,487), Cyprus (€3,405) and Hungary (€3,181).
- Lower average annual shortfalls include Latvia (€2,856), Greece (€2,591), Lithuania (€2,404), Slovenia (€2,245) and Spain (€2,005).
- The smallest losses are in Belgium (€322), with Romania and Poland also under the €1,000 mark. Among the EU’s four largest economies, Italy has the lowest average annual loss (€1,557).
Pay Transparency Directive And Potential Gains
The Pay Transparency Directive is intended to increase salary transparency and help close the gender pay gap, but most member states missed the original transposition deadline of 7 June 2026. The ETUC warns that failure to implement the directive amounts to continued denial of legal responsibility and could lead to legal challenges.
ETUC modeling suggests even modest progress would help. A 10% reduction in the gap, for example, would raise the average employed woman’s pay by roughly €672 a year. Country-level gains from such a reduction would be highest in France (€1,069) and Ireland (€1,033), with notable increases in Finland (€963), Germany (€867), Italy (€847) and Denmark (€802). The smallest estimated gain would be in Poland (€221), where the gap is relatively smaller.
"This is completely unacceptable when women have already suffered decades of pay discrimination. Time is up on the culture of secrecy which has allowed male-dominated boardrooms to get away with pay discrimination for so long," Lynch added.
What This Means
The figures show that the gender pay gap is not only an issue of fairness but also has large economic consequences for women and for the economy. Greater transparency, stronger enforcement of equal-pay rules and targeted national policies are the main tools recommended to reduce the gap and return billions of euros in lost wages to female workers across the EU.
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