Northern and Western Europe rank highest in police salaries, while Southern and Eastern Europe improve in PPS rankings.
The police play a vital role in upholding public order and ensuring the safety of citizens. To support these essential services, European governments allocate considerable resources each year.
In 2022, public expenditure on order and safety across the European Union reached 1.7 per cent of GDP.
But how well are police officers compensated for their crucial work? How do police salaries compare across Europe?
Drawing on estimates from Eurostat's Salary Calculator, the EU’s official statistical office, Euronews Next takes an in-depth look at police salaries across the EU and the UK.
Spain pays the lowest out of Europe's Big Four
In 2023, monthly gross police officer salaries ranged from €699 in Bulgaria to €5,761 in Denmark. These figures apply to a 35-year-old male police officer with over 10 years of experience, lower tertiary education, and a 36-hour work week.
Apart from Denmark, police officer salaries exceeded €4,000 in three additional countries. Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium followed Denmark with salaries around €4,200, while officers in the Netherlands earned €3,881 and those in Ireland €3,576.
In France, a police officer meeting the above specifications earned €3,395, while in Italy, the figure stood at €2,537. Among the EU's top four economies, Spanish police officers received the lowest salary at €2,271.
Police officers earned less than €1,250 in five EU countries. Salaries were just under €1,250 in Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Croatia, each over €1,050, while officers in Bulgaria earned the lowest, at only €699.
Luxembourg is the only country to pay women more
The gender pay gap remains a significant issue across Europe, and the police force is no exception.
While data for some countries carries low reliability, Luxembourg stands out as the only country where women police officers earn more than their male counterparts.
In most EU countries, male officers earn over 10 per cent more than their female colleagues.
In 2022, one in five police officers in the EU was a woman. The chart above also highlights the salaries of female police officers.
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