Wage increases higher than EU average in 2007

IRISH WAGES:IRISH WORKERS enjoyed higher wage increases than their counterparts across Europe in 2007, with pay rises for Irish workers running far ahead of the EU 15 average.

Ireland has one of the lowest gender wage differentials in Europe, at less than 10 per cent, according to new data published by Eurofound's European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). The survey also reveals that, for the first time in many years, the rate of wage increase for civil servants actually fell below the national average in 2007.

The new report, which covers the current 27 EU member states (EU 27) and Norway, found that average collectively agreed nominal wage increases across the EU rose from 5.6 per cent in 2006 to 7 per cent in 2007. When inflation is factored in, the average real wage increase for European workers fell from 2.7 per cent in 2006 to 2.3 per cent in 2007.

Among the older EU states, wage increases continue to moderate, with the average nominal increase among EU 15 countries rising from 2.9 per cent in 2006 to 3.1 per cent in 2007. The rate of wage increase in Ireland is one of the most significant among EU 15 countries, rising from 4 per cent in 2006 to 4.8 per cent in 2007.

However, the rate of increase is growing much faster among the 10 2004 EU accession states, with wages increasing by 8.5 per cent in 2006 and by 10.5 per cent in 2007, boosted by double-digit increases in the Baltic states. When the newest members of the EU, 2007 entrants Romania and Bulgaria, are added, the respective figures for the new EU states are 9 per cent and 11.9 per cent.

In 2007, the pay increase for Irish civil servants actually fell below the national average, as the rate of increase for the Civil Service fell from 5.5 per cent in 2006 to 3.3 per cent in 2007, compared with a national average increase of 4 per cent in 2006 and 4.8 per cent in 2007. The pay increase in the Civil Service was lower than the national average increase in 19 countries and higher in seven, according to the survey.

There is a smaller gender wage differential in Ireland compared to the EU average, according to the report, with women paid, on average, 91 per cent of the amount earned by men. The average for the EU 27 countries is 84.1 per cent. This gap has been on a downward trend since 2005 when women's wages stood at 82.5 per cent of men's, and is further evidence of a narrowing of the average wage gap among countries in the EU.

Ireland's minimum wage also compares well with the EU 27 average. It increased 13 per cent to €8.65 an hour in 2007, while the EU average grew by 8.1 per cent.