Lucrezia Ciotti In Italy , the issue of salaries continues to highlight profound inequalities across professional categories and regions. Private sector salary rankings reveal surprising gaps: from executives earning sky-high salaries to restaurant and retail workers earning much lower figures. Analyzing this salary hierarchy means understanding not only how much each worker earns, but also how income is distributed across the country, across sectors, ages, and genders, mapping economic opportunities and social disparities.
Wage inequality and the structure of work in Italy
In 2024, the INPS Statistical Observatory reports a highly uneven Italian wage landscape . Among 17,7 million private sector workers, the average annual salary stands at €24.486, a 3,4% increase over the previous year. However, this figure conceals significant disparities: executives earn approximately €163.643 per year, more than fourteen times the average salary of a waiter (€11.233).
The salary pyramid shows a clear progression : apprentices, with an average of 14.610 euros, and workers, with 18.227 euros, occupy the bottom, while clerks, executives, and managers are progressively higher, with incomes capable of guaranteeing greater economic stability and a different social trajectory.
The disparity is accentuated by the gender gap : men earn an average of 27.967 euros, women only 19.833 euros, with even more marked differences in part-time contracts.
The geography of work reflects similar imbalances : the North-West leads with average wages of 28.852 euros, followed by the North-East, while the Centre and the South record lower wages, reflecting the different production structures of the regions.
Economic sectors, precarious contracts and the phenomenon of poor work
Wage distribution varies significantly across economic sectors . Financial and insurance industries achieve high average salaries (€56.429 per year), while sectors such as restaurants and hotels remain among the worst payers, with €11.233 per year and very short contracts. Growing sectors such as commerce, construction, and professional services are seeing increased employment, but continue to offer relatively low wages.
Furthermore, unstable contractual arrangements such as intermittent work and agency work involve hundreds of thousands of workers: intermittent workers work an average of only 48 days a year, earning just €2.648, while agency workers earn an average of €10.578 per year. These employment arrangements contribute to the phenomenon of "poor work ," particularly evident among women, who hold the majority of part-time and fixed-term contracts.
The analysis by age shows that income increases with experience, peaking between the ages of 55 and 59, highlighting how seniority and job continuity are financially rewarded, but often only in certain categories and sectors.