Europe: Pay increases tend upwards

Average pay increases in Spain have continued to be close to 3.0% throughout the year but this figure is held down by staged deals signed in the past. More recent settlements are higher.

The official figures for 2024 show a steady but very gradual increase in the value of settlements, rising from an average increase of 2.83% in January to a 3.05% increase in the period January to November.

However, as Spanish agreements typically last three years or longer, more than three quarters of these agreements were signed before 2024, and they pull down the average. Looking just at agreements signed this year, the average pay increase is 3.74% rather than 3.05%.

This is above the level of pay increases recommended in the agreement signed by unions and employers at national level in May 2023, which was for was for 4% in 2023, 3% in 2024 and 3% in 2025. Pay undershot the target in 2023, when it increased by 3.67%, but this year it may surpass it.