According to Eurostat, employees in these two sectors earn 106% more than the national average wage in Cyprus which stands at €16.80 per hour.

A similar pattern is observed in Portugal (+167%), Romania (+136%), Latvia (+113%), and Hungary (+110%).

On the other hand, those employed in the European (EU28) tourism and food industries earn around 25% less than the national average.

In Cyprus, the hourly wage for employees in these two sectors is 48% less.

Cyprus is matched only by Ireland and Germany, where employees in the tourism and food industries are paid 49% and 47% less than average respectively.

The Eurostat report said that in 2014, the average wage across all sectors in the EU28 economies stood at €24.20 per hour, while employees in the euro area were paid significantly more at €29.30. In Cyprus however, the average employee is paid €16.80 per hour.

The highest-paid Europeans are the Danish (€40.10 per hour), the Belgians (€38.00), and the Swedes (€37.30). At the lower end are the Lithuanians (€5.90), the Romanians (€4.10), and the Bulgarians with €3.40 per hour.

Source: Cyprus Mail