Key facts
- Workers in Cyprus take home the largest share of their salaries in Europe, with only 15.1% of gross earnings going to taxes and deductions for a single person without children.
- Greece follows closely, with 17.0% of gross earnings deducted for the same demographic.
- Romania has the highest tax burden, with 41.5% of gross earnings deducted.
- The EU average for taxes and deductions on gross earnings is 29.1% for a single person without children.
- Having dependent children can significantly lower the tax burden, with net earnings exceeding gross earnings in some cases due to family allowances and tax refunds.
Workers across Europe experience significant variations in the share of their salaries taken by taxes and other compulsory deductions. Euronews Business, using Eurostat data from 2025, calculated the 'take-home ratio' for a single person without children earning the average wage.
Cyprus and Greece emerged with the lowest burdens, where only 15.1% and 17.0% of gross earnings, respectively, were deducted. The EU average stands at 29.1%. Conversely, Romania faces the highest deduction rate at 41.5%, followed by Lithuania (39.1%) and Belgium (37.6%).
Among the EU's largest economies, Germany has the highest deduction rate at 34.8%, while Spain has the lowest at 22.1%. France's rate is 26.2%, and Italy's is 24.1%. Generally, Southern European countries tend to have lower deduction shares, while Central and Eastern European nations often have higher ones.
The presence of dependent children can drastically alter these figures. For a one-earner couple with two children in Germany, the deduction share plummets to just 0.2%, a substantial decrease from 34.8% for a single individual. This difference highlights the impact of family support systems on net earnings.
Alex Mengden, an economist at the Tax Foundation, noted that the overall burden on labor, encompassing both personal income tax and social contributions, is more critical than personal income tax alone. He pointed out that while Denmark has a high tax burden on labor, its reliance on personal income tax differs from Poland, where social contributions significantly increase the overall deduction.