In 2024, the average Canary Island salary (1,642 euros/month) increased by 2.9% compared to the previous year and is at its historical maximum, although it is still the second lowest in the country. This increase is equivalent to a gain of 47 euros per month, that is, 566 euros per year.
In turn, the average remuneration for Spain as a whole increased by 3.9% compared to 2023 and reached 1,988 euros, 16% higher than the Canary Islands. In terms of euros, the difference between the two was 3,828 euros per year.
Consumer prices increased, both for the average of Spain and in the Canary Islands. In 2024, on average, the increase in this community was 2.8% compared to the previous year. Despite this increase, the purchasing power in the archipelago increased by 0.1% (equivalent to 27 euros per year) since the salary grew above the CPI. This gain for the Canary Island community is less than that of Spain as a whole (+1.0%).
The data has been released by the study and dissemination center of the Adecco Group in the eleventh edition of its Annual Salary Monitor, in which, based on data from the Quarterly Labor Cost Survey and Eurostat, it analyzes the average Spanish and Canary Island remuneration, from different perspectives.
The gap widens since 2019
In addition, when we analyze the period from 2019 to the present, we observe that the evolution of the average Canary Island salary has also been more unfavorable than that of Spain as a whole. Thus, the salary in the Canary Islands has increased by 13.6% since 2019 compared to the 17.4% increase for the average national salary.
The gap separating the average salaries of the Canary Islands and Spain fluctuated around 14% from 2008 to 2016, and has been increasing from 2017 to the present, presenting two peaks in 2020 (-21.8%) and 2021 (-19.2%) which represent the maximum gaps since the analyzed period (2008-2024).
In 2024, this gap is, as we have mentioned, 16% in favor of the national average, a figure that is above that obtained the previous year (-15.3%) and also that obtained in 2022 (-13.9%).
When analyzing the evolution of the purchasing power of the average salary from 2019 to the present, the result is negative. Thus, the accumulated loss in the Canary Islands since 2019 is 4.4%, a figure that is above the loss for Spain as a whole (-1.0%).
In terms of current euros, this loss is equivalent to 77 euros less per month in the Canary Island community compared to 20 euros less for Spain as a whole. That is, for the average remuneration of the Canary Islands to recover the purchasing power it had in 2019, it should increase by 77 euros per month (919 euros per year).
Of the three major economic sectors, Industry continues to be the one that offers the highest remuneration in the Canary Islands with 1,771 euros per month. However, it is 20.8% lower than the national average (2,234 euros).
Services is the next sector to offer the highest average salaries in the Canary Islands with 1,665 euros, although 14.8% lower than the national average for the sector (1,955 euros).
In Construction, an average remuneration of 1,637 euros is achieved in the archipelago, 12.7% lower than the Spanish average.