Industry pays the economy’s best salaries
Industry in Greece offers the highest wages compared to other sectors of the economy, at a rate that has varied between 26% and 32% in recent years.
Accordingly, productivity in industry was at a historic high in 2022, reaching 81,200 euros per employee, an amount that in total is 38% higher than the entire Greek economy.
The average annual salary in industry was 31.7% higher than the corresponding size of the economy in 2022, a difference that is the highest in the European Union, with the European average standing at 4.7%. However, compared to their colleagues in Europe, employees in Greek industry are poorly paid.
In contrast to most EU countries, the average annual salary in Greece has recorded a downward trend over time (-12% in 2022 compared to 2010). In 2022 the average annual salary in industry was €26,100, an amount corresponding to two-thirds of the annual pay of industrial workers at the EU level (€39,400 per year), with workers in Denmark ranking first in the EU, with an annual salary of over €77,000.
The footprint of domestic industry on the Greek economy and society is generally positive, according to the mapping done by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), monitoring the contribution of the sector through the evaluation of 24 indicators for the period 2010-2022 in five main pillars of the economy.
The study also records the challenges that Greek industry has to face, as well as the European one, with the largest being created due to global investment competition. The significant investment incentives in the US, combined with the significant difference in energy costs and the drastically reduced bureaucracy, create conditions for the flight of companies (mainly energy-intensive) from the EU and the possibility of a new wave of deindustrialization, the authors of the study characteristically point out.
However, the survey also found there is significant potential for success as long as the significant challenges are addressed, and in this light, it estimates that the medium-term goal of 15% of GDP for manufacturing and 20% of GDP for industry is achievable. In order to converge with the EU’s performance, according to SEV, Greece “must ‘upgrade’ with a plan, cuts and small revolutions.”
