The tax burden in Europe varies considerably. As a rule, the decisive factor is the level of income. Some countries have flat income tax rates, while others have a progressive system where higher earnings are taxed at a higher rate. Marital status, one or two sources of income in the family and the presence of dependent children also influence the amount of salary in hand.
Euronews Business has estimated the take-home pay for a €100,000 pre-tax income based on the OECD Tax Wedge 2026 report, OECD country files, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries and national sources. Additional sources of income were not considered in the valuation and EU tax rates for 2025 were used. Currencies of non-eurozone countries were converted using ECB reference rates as of December 31, 2025.
Bulgaria has the highest incomes
Among the 31 European countries (EU states plus the UK, Switzerland, Norway and Turkey), the net income at an annual salary of 100,000 € before taxes ranges from 50,750 € in Belgium to 86,930 € in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is the only country where the net salary exceeds 85,000 €. Estonia follows with 74,400 €. The Czech Republic (72,800 €), Malta (72,500 €), Switzerland (70,500 €) and Cyprus (70,300 €) are the countries where employees keep at least 70,000 € out of a 100,000 € dirty salary.
The UK has the highest per capita income among the major economies
At this level of income, workers in the UK keep almost 70% of their salary before tax.
At 69,900 €, net income is the highest among Europe’s five largest economies. Spain (€64,200) and France (€63,000) are in the middle, while Germany (€57,900) and Italy (€56,700) provide the lowest net incomes among the Big Five.
Lowest income per hand: Belgium, Denmark and Sweden
At the bottom of the ranking, Belgium (50,750 €) ranks last, followed by the two Nordic countries Denmark (51,500 €) and Sweden (52,000 €). Austria (54,200 €), Slovenia (55,060 €) and Greece (56,615 €) are also among the countries where, with a pre-tax income of 100,000 €, the net salary is among the lowest in Europe.
Portugal (57,000 €) and Romania (58,500 €) also remain below the 60,000 € net mark.
Poland (60,225 €), the Netherlands (60,500 €), Lithuania (60,500 €), Croatia (61,000 €) and Luxembourg (61,500 €) are slightly above this level.
Among the Nordic countries, Norway (66,900 €) provides the highest net income, followed by Finland (62,200 €). In both cases, the figures are significantly higher than in Denmark and Sweden, where net salaries are only slightly above 50,000 €.
