People employed in research and development (R&D) in Belgium grossed on average €60,284 per year in 2021, according to a study by business performance consultant Ayming.
The median salary, meanwhile, was €53,937 (gross) per year.
For this study, Ayming analysed more than 25,000 payslips, reflecting the salaries of 1,950 researchers who worked full time within their companies throughout 2021.
No fewer than 89 companies were represented. However, the European institutions were excluded from the research so as not to skew the figures for Brussels-Capital Region.
Despite this precaution, it is indeed within this region that the average gross salary was the highest for scientists, €67,237 per year, almost 12% higher than the national average. In Wallonia it was €64,765, while the average for Flanders was €57,177.
In terms of salaries per education level, there was a 44% difference between average bachelor’s degree holders (€52,050 gross per year) and PhDs (€75,040).
Master’s degree holders naturally came in between, with an average gross annual salary of €59,720. They also form the largest group (56%) among the 1,950 researchers in the study, followed by bachelor’s degree holders (27%) and PhDs (17%).
The sector that paid the highest average gross annual salaries was the chemical industry (€94,685), far ahead of finance and insurance (€84,290) and the non-profit sector (€79,050).
Most of the 89 companies surveyed were in Flanders (46). They accounted for 64% of the employees in the analysis sample.
