Even after adjusting for living costs, large salary gaps remain, raising concerns about whether education systems can attract and retain qualified teachers.
Europe
Teacher salaries vary dramatically across Europe, with annual earnings for primary-school teachers ranging from less than €19,000 in some countries to more than €74,000 in others. The latest figures reinforce a broader concern: teaching often remains less financially competitive than other professions requiring similar levels of education.
Denmark recorded the highest average actual salary for primary teachers at around €74,086, followed closely by Iceland at €73,752. Ireland, Germany and Austria also ranked among the highest-paying systems, all above €65,000 annually.
At the other end of the spectrum, salaries fell below €25,000 in several countries, including Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Latvia, Greece and Türkiye. Greece and Türkiye were at the bottom of the nominal salary range for primary teachers, both below €19,000.
The gap remains significant even after adjusting for purchasing power. Germany moves to the top once differences in living costs are considered, with primary teachers reaching roughly 64,143 purchasing power standards. Austria, Denmark, Ireland and Belgium’s Flemish Community also remain among the strongest performers.
Greece, by contrast, remains at the bottom after the adjustment, with around 21,456 purchasing power standards. Latvia, Slovakia, Czechia and Estonia also rank near the lower end, suggesting that cost-of-living differences alone do not explain Europe’s salary divide.
The pattern becomes even more pronounced at upper-secondary level. Teachers in Iceland can earn nearly €94,000 annually, while salaries in Germany and Denmark exceed €80,000. In most countries, secondary teachers earn more than primary teachers, reflecting differences in qualifications, career structures and national pay systems.
The data also reveal an important structural problem. Across OECD countries, teachers generally earn only around 87 to 95 percent of what similarly educated workers receive in other professions. That gap has become increasingly relevant as many education systems struggle with recruitment, retention and aging teaching workforces.
Salary, however, is only part of the equation. Taxation, benefits, workload, professional progression, union strength and the broader social status of teachers all influence how attractive the profession becomes. Two countries with similar nominal salaries can therefore offer very different professional realities.
The comparison also highlights a limitation: no directly comparable figure was available for Spain in the dataset used, making it difficult to place the country precisely within the same ranking.
Europe’s teacher-pay debate is therefore about more than compensation. It is about whether education systems are willing to compete for highly qualified professionals in labor markets where alternative careers often pay more.
A school system can demand excellence from teachers, but retaining excellence eventually becomes an economic question.