Health personnel and doctors in particular worked ceaselessly to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many did not go home for days or weeks at a time, and some lost their lives helping others. They became heroes, and the public showed its appreciation for their work and devotion.
However, health personnel remain largely unhappy about their salaries and working conditions. This includes doctors. And both junior and senior NHS doctors are currently striking in the UK.
In 2022, doctors marched in protest, warned of the possibility of strikes, or went on strike in European countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Turkey. They asked for increased pay but also complained about the lack of staff in their hospitals.
The British Medical Association (BMA) – the UK’s main union for doctors – said that newly-qualified doctors earn just £14.09 an hour (€15.95), less than a barista at coffee shop chain Pret-a-manger (which pays £14.10, or €15.96), adding that junior doctors have had a 26 per cent real terms pay cut since 2008.
In most European countries, the annual gross salaries of doctors increased in real terms between 2010 and 2020, according to figures released by the OECD. Salaries in real terms are values that take inflation into account.
How much are doctors paid in Europe? Which countries pay doctors the most and the least?
The latest OECD dataset (2020) includes information for 25 European countries, and doctors’ salaries vary greatly among them.
In 2020 or the closest year with available data, the annual gross salaries of senior hospital specialists ranged from €20,200 in Poland to €258,552 in Luxembourg. In other words, the difference between doctors paid the most and doctors paid the least is more than tenfold.
