Wages in Italy are amongst the lowest in the European Union it has been revealed, with the gap between those in other EU countries such as France and Germany, continuing to grow.

The findings unveiled by the Giuseppe di Vittorio Foundation shows wage income in Italy remains under the €35,000 mark per year.

Over the past few years, during and post-pandemic, the gap between annual salaries in Italy and France rose from €9,800 to €10,700, and compared to Germany increased from €13,900 to €15,000.

The report adds that both Italy and Spain are finding it hard to recover average wage levels seen before the pandemic. Yet in contrast, France and Germany, along with the majority of other eurozone nations, increased average wages by 2.0% over the last year.

The findings also reveal the issue is being exacerbated by a rise in low-skilled labour “and a productive system with a low propensity to innovation and oriented to the reduction of production costs through wage compression.”

A total of 3.2 million temporary workers were registered in Italy in April this year, the highest since 1977, the report goes on to add, citing data from the country’s National Institute of Statistics (Istat).

Earlier this month, several policymakers called for the implementation of the minimum wage, following European Union approval of a draft directive.

Indeed, Italy’s Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Andrea Orlando said EU approval of this proposal, involving the 27 member states, aims to “give all workers a living wage.”

Italy is one of six EU member countries with no minimum wage, along with Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.