A full-time employee in Belgium earned an average of €4,076 gross per month. However, salaries in the country differ significantly based on the profession and location.
People working full time in Belgium in 2022 earned €4,076 gross per month (including premiums for weekend and night work), figures from Belgium's national statistics agency Statbel showed. The median wage is lower than the average wage, at €3,728 gross per month.
"This means that 50% of workers earn less than €3,728, while the other half receive a higher wage," Statbel's spokesperson Wendy Schelfaut said. "The two extreme deciles show that 10% of workers earn less than €2,443 per month, while a tenth of wage earners receive at least €6,305."
Which professions pay the highest?
Wages in Belgium can vary considerably based on factors such as age, work location and – quite predictably but most significantly – the person's profession and role.
"The profession a worker holds largely determines the size of the salary," said Schelfaut. "Consequently, large differences occur between different jobs." Topping the list of best-paid professions are directors of Belgium's largest companies, earning €11,772 gross every month – 189% above the national average.
The top ten also includes managers in various branches (IT, sales, businesses offering professional services), as well as doctors, mathematicians and electro-IT engineers. At the other end of the spectrum, with the lowest wages, are people working in nurseries and the care sector. "With a monthly salary of €2,567, they earn 37% below the national average." Waiters and bartenders, hairdressers, beauticians and cleaners also earn less than €2,700 per month on average.
Sector-wise, the petrochemical industry takes the crown for the best-paid people (average monthly wage of €6,431), followed by business management consulting firms (€5,696) and financial services (€5,472). The lowest wages are paid in the hospitality industry (€2,863).
Where a person is employed also heavily influences their wage. Statbel figures highlight that commuting to Brussels for a job pays off. "The Brussels-Capital Region takes the crown, as the average monthly wage there is €4,748, 16% higher than the national average," Schelfaut said.
There is a spill-over effect from the capital: at companies located in the districts bordering or near the capital, such as Halle-Vilvoorde, Leuven and Nivelles, the average wage is over €4,250.
The lowest wages are paid to people working in the district of Dinant (an average of €3,134), while wages in Marche-en-Famenne, Bastogne, Veurne and Thuin are on average below €3,300 gross per month.
Other factors
Age also plays a role: the older a worker is, the higher the average wage, with the age of 40 marking a turning point. "Workers under 40 earn less than the national average overall. But from this age, people often earn higher wages," Schelfaut explained. The pay of workers aged 60 and above, for example, is 31% above the national average.
This age effect does mainly play out among white-collar workers. "For instance, white-collar workers aged 60 and above earn 188% more than white-collar workers below 20 years of age." Among blue-collar workers, meanwhile, this gap is limited to 39%. Up to the age of 24, blue-collar workers earn higher wages on average than white-collar workers, but from the age of 25, this switches.
Men of all ages working full-time earn more than their female colleagues, but the gender pay gap fluctuates per age group: it is 10% among workers under the age of 20 and drops to 0.7% in the 30-34 age group before sharply increasing sharply to 19% among people aged 60 and above.
A person's level of education can also impact their pay: "Workers with a Bachelor's degree earn 6% more than the Belgian average and this difference increases to 46% for workers with a Master's degree." On the other end of the spectrum, those who did not complete higher studies generally earn less than the average.
