EU Gender Pay Gap Costs Women Billions Annually, Transparency Directive Faces Delays

The gender pay gap in the EU is real, and it is costly according to the numbers.

Women's gross hourly earnings are on average 11.1% less than men's per Eurostat, meaning that for every €100 a man earns in the bloc, a woman only earns €88.9.

Annualised, the gap becomes clearer as the average woman is paid almost €3,900 less than men a year in the EU according to estimates from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), also based on Eurostat data.

That means the 92.5 million women working in the EU are collectively losing more than €358 billion a year.

"The cost of pay transparency measures are small for companies but this analysis shows that inaction by national governments will cost women workers billions in lost wages,” ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch stated.

The EU's Pay Transparency Directive covers businesses with at least 100 employees, so this estimate reflects that female workforce, which includes 43 million women.

Luxembourg is the only country in the EU where women are paid more than men, earning roughly €474 more per year.

The average employed woman loses more than €5,000 a year in Finland (€7,592), Austria (€6,854), Germany (€6,049) and Sweden (€5,116), based on 2025 data.

The annual loss is also above the EU average (€3,881) in Estonia (€4,967), France (€4,536), Czechia (€4,499) and Ireland (€4,129), all above the €4,000 level.

The estimated losses are €3,684 in the Netherlands, €3,487 in Slovakia, €3,405 in Cyprus, €3,181 in Hungary, €2,856 in Latvia, €2,591 in Greece, €2,404 in Lithuania, €2,245 in Slovenia and €2,005 in Spain.

The lowest amount is in Belgium, at just €322. It's also below the €1,000 threshold in Romania and Poland.

Among the EU's Big Four, Italy has the lowest level, at €1,557.

The EU’s Pay Transparency Directive can make a difference

The EU's Pay Transparency Directive aims to boost salary transparency and tackle the gender pay gap. It was due to take effect by 7 June 2026, but most member states missed the deadline.

"This is completely unacceptable when women have already suffered decades of pay discrimination. Time is up on the culture of secrecy which has allowed male dominated boardrooms to get away with pay discrimination for so long,”Lynch stated.

ETUC estimates show the impact would be significant, even a 10% smaller gap would make a big difference as the average employed woman would then earn around €672 more a year.

The highest gain would be in France, at €1,069, followed by €1,033 in Ireland.

An employed woman would also be paid more in Finland (€963), Germany (€867), Italy (€847) and Denmark (€802).

The annual gain would be lowest in Poland, at €221, as the gender pay gap is smaller in that country.

ETUC Deputy General Secretary Isabelle Schömann also said that any government which continues to avoid their legal responsibility to put this directive into action can expect to be taken to court.