The impact of indexation on real wages can be deciphered from a study by the German research institute WSI of the Hans-Böckler-Stichting Foundation, which is reputed to be close to the German trade unions. According to the study, published on Monday 1 July 2024, real wages in Luxembourg rose by 4.3% last year. Luxembourg shares third place on the European podium with Bulgaria and Slovenia.

Romania saw the biggest rise in Europe last year (+7.7%), ahead of Belgium (+5.3%). The biggest fall in real wages last year was in the Czech Republic (-4.4%), followed by Malta (-3.8%) and Italy (-3.3%).

The European average is still down (-0.6%), following a more marked decline the previous year (-4.2%).

Luxembourg is only in 17th place in terms of nominal wage increases. It is the fact that inflation is kept under control compared with other European countries that puts it at the top of the league table in terms of what is left in employees’ pockets.

This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.