In Belgium, which internationally is recognised for its rank when it comes to equal pay between genders, the wage gap between full-time employed women and men has almost been eliminated.
In 2020, the gender pay gap among full-time workers dropped sharply to 0.4% from 4.1% in 2019, placing it in the top position among OECD countries for the most equal pay between men and women.
Women working full-time jobs in Wallonia even earned on average more than men, which is the first time this has happened in a Belgian region. In the French-speaking region, the average male worker receives €3,551, while women earn €3,573, according to the latest figures from Statbel, the Belgian statistics office.
In Flanders, the gender pay gap is still 1.1% while in Brussels, men earn 5.4% more than women. On average, taking into account both genders, an employee working full-time in 2020 earned €3,832 gross per month.
The median wage was lower, at €3,550, meaning this is the maximum earned by half of all full-time employees, and that a relatively small group of big earners raise the average.
The largest group, 69% of all workers, earn between €2,000 and €4,250 gross per month. On the one end of the spectrum, 10% of all employees earned less than €2,334 gross on a monthly basis, while the same percentage of people earned more than €5,991 gross.
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Statbel's figures showed that location drives wages, as those working in Brussels tend to earn more than in other regions, while wages in the province of Luxembourg are the lowest.
Education levels also play a part, with those holding a master's degree making up to 47% more than the average person in Belgium, and those who left school without a diploma receiving a salary 26% below the national average.
