The average salary in the Canary Islands recovered 2.1% of purchasing power last year, but remains the second lowest in Spain, with 1,630 euros per month, 652 euros away from what a worker in Madrid earns on average, according to the Adecco Monitor of Opportunities and Satisfaction in Employment.
The salary gap between Madrid and Extremadura, autonomous communities with the highest and lowest remuneration in the country, respectively, increased in 2023 by 15%, to 749 euros. Madrid is the community with the highest average salary, at 2,282 euros per month, followed by the Basque Country (2,197 euros per month), Navarra (2,093 euros) and Catalonia (2,056 euros), and at the other extreme is Extremadura, with a salary of 1,533 euros per month, the Canary Islands (1,630 euros per month) and Murcia (1,674 euros per month).
The average salary in Spain reached a "historical maximum" in 2023, standing at 1,920 euros per month, 5.4% more than in the previous year, although purchasing power has fallen for the second consecutive year, by 2.6%, which translates into 610 euros less per year.
By community, the average salary has risen especially in the Balearic Islands (7.7%), Madrid (6.7%) and Navarra (6.2%), while Extremadura, Cantabria and the Canary Islands are the regions where it has increased the least: 3.1%, 3.2% and 4%, respectively.
Workers' purchasing power decreases
The average salary for Spain as a whole loses purchasing power for the second consecutive year, 2.6% in 2023, which translates into 610 euros less per year. Another conclusion of the report indicates that purchasing power is 8.8% lower than the highest purchasing power in the historical series (that of 2009) and continues to be lower than that of the year 2000. Only two autonomous communities show an increase in their purchasing power: the Balearic Islands (3.1%) and the Canary Islands (2.1%), while fifteen have seen this purchasing power decrease, especially Asturias, 5%; Galicia, 4.8%; and the Basque Country, 4.6%.
The best conditions for working are in the Balearic Islands
The Adecco Monitor of Opportunities and Satisfaction in Employment, prepared semi-annually for twelve years, emphasizes that the Balearic Islands (7 points), Catalonia (6.6 points) and Madrid (6.4) are the ones that offer the best conditions for working in Spain.
They are followed by the Valencian Community and Cantabria, both with 6.2 points each, and these five are the only regions that exceed the national average score, which rose to 5.9 points in the fourth quarter of 2023, with an interannual increase of 3.8%. It is the second quarter in positive territory after nine consecutive quarters with year-on-year declines.
In the third quarter of last year, only two communities reduced this indicator, Aragon and Extremadura, while the largest increases corresponded to the Balearic Islands, Cantabria and La Rioja. The Community of Madrid occupied the first place two years ago, but is now in third place, while Catalonia has returned to second place after advancing to first place in 2022 and the Balearic Islands rises one place and occupies the first position in the fourth quarter of 2023.
