Gender Pay Gap Across EU Countries

Key Takeaways

• Women across the EU earn 11.1% less per hour than men on average in 2024. The gap ranges nearly 20 percentage points, from −1.5% in Luxembourg to 18.0% in Czechia.
• Czechia records the EU’s highest gap at 18.0%. Women there concentrate on lower-paid education, health, and care roles rather than the higher-paying sectors that men dominate.
• Finland (15.9%) and Denmark (13.4%) sit above the EU average despite ranking among the bloc’s strongest on gender equality. High female participation in lower-paid public sector roles explains the gap.
• Romania and Poland record the smallest gaps at 3.2% and 4.1%. A small gap here reflects who participates in the labor market, not how fairly they are paid.
• Luxembourg is the only country in this dataset where women out-earn men, recording a gap of −1.5%. A high concentration of high-skill female workers in finance and professional services explains the result.

In Luxembourg, women earn more per hour than men. In Czechia, they earn 18% less. The EU average sits at 11.1% in 2024, but the range across the bloc stretches nearly 20 percentage points. The reasons differ sharply from country to country.

The unadjusted gender pay gap measures the difference between male and female mean gross hourly earnings as a percentage of male earnings. It captures everything: different sectors, different occupations, different hours, without adjusting for any of them.

EU Countries’ Gender Pay Gap

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Czechia and Slovakia Record the EU’s Two Largest Pay Gaps

Czechia records the highest gap in this dataset at 18.0%. Slovakia follows at 15.1%. Both countries share a structurally similar labor market. Women concentrate in education, health, and social care. Meanwhile, men dominate manufacturing, information technology, and financial services.

In Czechia, the gap within finance and insurance reaches 35.6%. Women in these countries do not primarily earn less for doing the same work. They work in different sectors that pay less overall.

Germany sits at 14.8%, above the EU average. Three-quarters of Germany’s gap traces to the same structural factors. Women in Germany work in lower-paid occupations more often than men. They also take the bulk of part-time and caregiving roles. The adjusted figure falls to 6%. This measures men and women in equivalent roles with equivalent qualifications.

Germany’s Gender Pay Gap in Full-Time Work Falls to 9% ->

Finland and Denmark Rank Above the EU Average Despite Strong Gender Equality Records

Finland records a 15.9% gap. Denmark sits at 13.4%. Both countries consistently rank among the EU’s strongest on gender equality indicators. Both also sit above the EU average on pay.

Occupational segregation explains this gender gap. Between 71% and 79% of women in Nordic countries work in female-dominated industries. This includes public sector care, health, and education. These sectors pay less on average than the male-dominated sectors of manufacturing, construction, and finance. High female labor force participation raises the recorded gap rather than closing it, because more women enter sectors with structurally lower wages.

Parental leave amplifies the effect. Nordic women take far longer career breaks than men after children arrive. Those interruptions slow wage progression in ways that compound over time.

Romania and Poland Record Small Gaps Due to Selective Labor Market Participation

Romania records a 3.2% gap. Poland sits at 4.1%. Both figures appear to show near-parity. 

In Romania, women with lower levels of education participate in the labor market at significantly lower rates than men. The women who work skew heavily toward higher education levels. That pushes the female average wage upward, toward male levels. The gap appears small because lower-paid women rarely enter the labor market at all. It does not reflect equal pay across the board.

Poland follows a similar pattern. A narrow aggregate gap can reflect who enters the labor market rather than how fairly those workers are paid.

Luxembourg Is the Only Country in This Dataset Where Women Out-Earn Men

Luxembourg records a gap of −1.5%. Women’s mean hourly earnings exceed men’s. No other country in this dataset reports a negative gap.

Luxembourg’s workforce concentrates an unusually high share of high-skill, high-wage female workers in finance and professional services. Lower-paid service roles draw heavily from cross-border male commuters. The negative gap reflects the workforce mix rather than a structural advantage for women.

The EU’s 11.1% average reflects more than wage decisions. It reflects who works, in which sectors, and for how many hours. Together, these factors shape the number as much as direct pay-setting does.

A small gap can reflect a selective workforce. A large gap in a country with high female employment often reflects occupational segregation rather than direct discrimination. Both patterns point to the same underlying problem: the sectors and roles women occupy across the EU still pay less than the sectors men occupy.