The salaries of beginning teachers differ considerably in the EU, ranging from an annual gross of €5,161 to €76,376, and amount to €13,547 in Croatia, according to data for the 2018-19 school year published by the European Commission on Monday on the occasion of World Teachers Day.

The Commission published data on teacher salaries in the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.

In the EU, the highest gross annual salaries for beginning teachers are in Luxembourg, ranging from €67,391 to €76,376.

Switzerland has the highest salaries for beginning teachers, ranging from a gross of €67,422 to €90,525 annually.

In Bulgaria, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the gross annual salaries for beginning teachers are below €9,000, ranging from €5,161 in Bulgaria to €8,832 in Slovakia.

In the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania and Slovenia, they are below €20,000, ranging from €12,902 in the Czech Republic to €18,658 in Slovenia.

In France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and the UK, the gross annual salaries for beginning teachers range from €22,000 to €28,000, although Scotland is in the group of countries with above-average teacher salaries. That group comprises Belgium, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, and Sweden.

Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are in the group of countries with the highest teacher salaries.

In the Netherlands, a teacher’s salary increases by 76% after 15 years of service and by 105% after that.

In Croatia, teachers have the lowest increase in the EU. In the first ten years of service, their salaries go up by 4.5% and by 7% after 15 years. The maximum increase is 19.4%.

In Romania, teacher salaries for the 2018-19 school year were between 163.8% and 180.6% higherthan for 2014-15. In Bulgaria, they increased by 51.2%, in Latvia by 61.5% and in Croatia by 5%.