The average gross monthly wage per worker is higher in the public sector compared to the private sector, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). But what are the figures?
In the Private Sector
The average gross total monthly remuneration per worker (per job position) increased by 5.3% to €1,525 in the quarter ending March 2025 (corresponding to the first quarter of the year), compared to the same period in 2024. The regular and base components of that remuneration increased by 5.4% and 5.1%, reaching €1,356 and €1,270, respectively, as reported by the INE.
In real terms, taking into account the Consumer Price Index variation, the average gross total monthly remuneration increased by 2.9% and its regular and base components rose by 3.1% and 2.8%, respectively. These results cover 4.7 million jobs, corresponding to beneficiaries of Social Security and subscribers of the Caixa Geral de Aposentações, an increase of 2.3% compared to the same period in 2024.
In the Public Sector
In the Public Administration (AP) institutional sector, there was a 6.3% year-on-year increase in the average total remuneration per worker (job position), reaching €2,021 in March 2025 (compared to €1,902 a year earlier). During this period, the regular component increased by 6.3%, from €1,793 to €1,906, and the base remuneration rose by 4.8%, from €1,683 to €1,764, according to the INE report.
In real terms, in AP, total, regular, and base remunerations increased by 3.9%, 4.0%, and 2.5%, respectively.
The Differences
According to the INE, the differences in average remuneration levels between the AP sector and the private sector reflect, among other things, differences in the type of work performed, the age composition (impacting the accumulation of human capital and professional experience), and the qualifications of the workers involved.
It is observed that workers in the AP sector have, on average, higher education levels: 55.9% of workers in this sector had higher education (25.9% in the private sector), 27.2% had completed secondary or post-secondary education (35.0% in the private sector), and 16.9% had an education level corresponding at most to the third cycle of basic education (39.1% in the private sector).
