The survey looked at income inequality in the EU for the year 2021, explaining that “the way income is distributed across society determines the extent to which individuals have equal access to the goods and services produced within a national economy.”

Taking the median equivalised disposable income per inhabitant (in purchasing poser standard or PPS) as a measure, the European statistics bureau highlighted that higher income profiles were especially concentrated in Western and Nordic European countries. Luxembourg, with 32,132 PPS, had the highest median income, followed by Norway (27,893 PPS) and Switzerland (26,163 PPS). Within the EU, the Netherlands (24,560 PPS), Austria (24,450 PPS) and Germany (23,401 PPS) followed Luxembourg. The PPS as a unit takes into account price-level differences between different countries.

Luxembourg’s other neighbours, Belgium and France, landed in the bracket below Luxembourg, with a median income between 20,000 and 25,000. Southern and Eastern member states had the lowest average incomes in the EU, with Greece (9,917 PPS), Bulgaria (9,375 PPS) and Romania (8,703 PPS) registering the smallest numbers.

Social transfers to median disposable income were also largest in Luxembourg: if they included pensions, they increased the disposable income of each resident by 9,073 PPS.