Gender pay gap in 2008: Germany still trailing behind other EU Member States
WIESBADEN – The gender pay gap, that is the percentage difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women, amounted to 23.2% in Germany in 2008. Hence it was again clearly larger than the average recorded for the European Union (18.0%). As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), of the 27 EU Member States, only Estonia (latest figure for 2007: 30.3%), the Czech Republic (26.2%), Austria (25.5%) and the Netherlands (latest figure for 2007: 23.6%) showed a larger gender pay gap than Germany.
In 2008, the European country with the smallest difference in the gross hourly earnings of men and women was Italy (4.9%). It was followed by Slovenia (8.5%), Romania and Belgium (9.0% each), Malta and Portugal (9.2%), which recorded a rather moderate gender pay gap, too. For further information please call: Claudia Finke, tel: +49 611 75 2696,
