Women in the EU are on average 16 percent less paid than men, in Croatia 8.7 percent

Women in the European Union (EU) in 2016 were on average paid 16.2 percent less than men, meaning they earned an average of 84 euro cents for every euro a man would be paid per hour, Eurostat reported.

Among member states, in 2016, wage differences ranged from just over five percent in Romania and Italy to over 25 percent in Estonia, followed closely by the Czech Republic and Germany, with wage differences of nearly 22 percent, a report from Eurostat published on Wednesday, marking International Women’s Day on March 8, showed.

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Croatia is classified among EU member states with a wage gap of less than 10 percent. Along with Romania and Italy, where it reaches 5.2 and 5.3 percent respectively, this group also includes Luxembourg, with 5.5 percent, Belgium, with 6.1 percent, Poland with 7.2 percent, and Slovenia with 7.8 percent.

On the other hand, in the group of countries with wage differences greater than 20 percent, led by Estonia with 25.3 percent, along with the Czech Republic and Germany, where it reaches 21.8 and 21.5 percent respectively, only the United Kingdom, with a wage difference of 21 percent, and Austria, where it was 20.1 percent in 2016, are included.

Since 2011, differences have slightly decreased at the EU level

At the EU level as a whole, wage differences from 2011 to 2016 have slightly decreased by 0.6 percentage points, the report showed.

Compared to 2011, they have decreased in most member states, with the largest decrease in Romania, by 4.4 percentage points, and in Hungary, by four percentage points. Spain and Austria follow, with a decrease of 3.4 percentage points each, and Belgium and the Netherlands, with a decrease in wage differences of 3.3 and three percentage points respectively.

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In contrast, these differences have increased in 10 member states, including Croatia, most notably in Portugal and Slovenia, by 4.6 and 4.5 percentage points respectively.

In Croatia, the wage gap increased by three percentage points – from 5.7 percent according to data from 2010 to 8.7 percent according to data from 2014, Eurostat’s report showed.