The average remuneration in Spain, taking inflation into account, gained purchasing power after eight consecutive quarters of losses, with an increase of 2.5% in the last three months of 2024.
This is indicated by the latest Adecco monitor report on salaries, which indicates that, however, Canary Islands (-1%) and Cantabria (-0.3%) are the exception with a loss of purchasing power.
With that gain of 2.5%, the study adds, the average employee adds 578 euros per year.
"Even so, the purchasing power of the current average salary is 7.9% lower than the highest purchasing power in the historical series, reached in the year 2009," they point out.
Where it increased the most was in the Balearic Islands, increasing its purchasing power by 6.1% and is well above the national average of 2.5%, followed by Madrid (4.5%), Murcia (4.3%) and Extremadura (4%) which a year ago registered a loss of purchasing power.
The average salary is close to 2,000 euros
Along with this real salary, the Adecco monitor analyzes the evolution of the salary regardless of prices.
In that series, the average salary for the whole of Spain had an interannual increase of 3.8% in the last quarter of last year, reaching 1,987 euros per month, a new historical maximum.
However, this interannual increase is the second lowest of the last fifteen quarters, only behind the 3.4% of the second quarter of 2021.
When ordering the communities according to their salary, four regions stand out with an average salary higher than the national average.
Madrid remains, one more year, in the first position with an average remuneration of 2,364 euros per month, an increase of 4.1% year-on-year.
In second place is the Basque Country, with an average salary of 2,248 euros per month and an increase of 2.7% year-on-year.
Navarra continues in third place with 2,154 euros per month (3.4% year-on-year), followed by Catalonia with 2,120 euros (3.4% year-on-year).
At the other extreme, Extremadura retains the lowest salary with 1,641 euros per month, although it presents the highest interannual increase, with 7.4%, and shortens the distance with the next community with the lowest salary.
For the first time, none of the regions has a salary lower than 1,600 euros per month.
The next community with the lowest salary continues to be Canary Islands with 1,668 euros per month, which represents an increase of 2.9% year-on-year.
Andalusia, with an average remuneration of 1,750 euros per month and an increase of 2.7% year-on-year, falls below the Region of Murcia, which achieves a growth of 5.4% to stand at 1,757 euros per month.
The report points out that in all the autonomous communities the current average salary is at its maximum, although it points out that the inflation of each community must be taken into account to understand how the combination of both measures affects purchasing power, since this may decrease, even if the salary increases, or not grow with the same force.
