EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted)

Estonia had the highest gender pay gap (unadjusted) of 26 EU countries in 2016, at 24.8%. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 3.9%. The median was 14.3% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 15.1%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest24.8Estonia

Lowest3.9Luxembourg

Median14.326 EU countries

European Union (27)15.1History

Map of EU countries, 2016

Under 8.1
8.1 to 14
14 to 15
15 to 19
19 and over
No data

%, 2016. Hatched areas have no value for this period. Source: Eurostat, Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2016

%. Source: Eurostat, Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 (%)	Change on 2015
1	Estonia	24.8	-1.9 pts
2	Czechia	21.5	-1 pts
3	Germany	21.1	-0.7 pts
4	Austria	20.8	-1 pts
5	Latvia	19.7	+1.3 pts
6	Slovakia	19.2	-0.5 pts
7	Finland	17.5	0 pts
8	France	15.9	+0.3 pts
9	Netherlands	15.6	-0.5 pts
10	Denmark	15.1	0 pts
11	Spain	14.8	+0.7 pts
12	Bulgaria	14.6	-0.9 pts
13	Lithuania	14.4	+0.2 pts
14	Ireland Provisional	14.2	+0.3 pts
15	Hungary	14	0 pts
16	Portugal	13.9	-2.1 pts
17	Sweden	13.3	-0.7 pts
18	Cyprus	12.3	-0.9 pts
19	Croatia	11.6	n/a
19	Malta	11.6	+0.9 pts
21	Slovenia	8.1	-0.1 pts
22	Poland	7.1	-0.2 pts
23	Belgium	6	-0.4 pts
24	Italy Provisional	5.3	-0.2 pts
25	Romania Estimated	4.8	-0.8 pts
26	Luxembourg	3.9	-0.8 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and of women, as a percentage of men's average gross hourly earnings. Employees in enterprises with 10 or more employees, in industry, construction and services except public administration and defence (NACE Rev. 2 B to S without O).

Unadjusted: it compares averages for all women and all men and does not account for differences in occupation, sector, hours or experience. A negative value means women earn more per hour on average. Built from the four-yearly Structure of Earnings Survey (2010, 2014, 2018, 2022), with national estimates for the years in between; the latest year is usually provisional.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. 1 EU countries with data in other periods have no value for 2016 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2) (EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table

MLA 9

Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2), EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016. Eurostat, European Commission, 26 Feb. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2), EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_gender_2016,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn\_gr\_gpgr2): EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn\_gr\_gpgr2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn\_gr\_gpgr2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2): EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/26
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/earn_gr_gpgr2/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/gender-pay-gap/eu-countries?period=2016" width="760" height="500" title="EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted), 2016, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by gender pay gap (unadjusted) using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"gender_pay_gap","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=gender_pay_gap&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest gender pay gap (unadjusted)?

Estonia, with 24.8% in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest gender pay gap (unadjusted)?

Luxembourg, with 3.9% in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Gender pay gap in unadjusted form, industry, construction and services except public administration (earn_gr_gpgr2). Retrieved 2026-10-18. 1 EU countries have no value for 2016 and are not ranked.