Statutory and actual salaries of school heads are higher than those of teachers at pre-primary, primary and general secondary levels of education. On average across OECD countries and economies, actual salaries of school heads are more than 52% higher than those of teachers across primary and secondary levels of education.
Teachers’ actual salaries at pre-primary, primary and general secondary levels of education are 78% to 93% of earnings of tertiary-educated workers on average across OECD countries.
On average across OECD countries and economies, school heads’ salaries are at least 25% higher than earnings of tertiary-educated workers at primary and secondary levels.
Education at a Glance 2019
OECD Indicators
Education at a Glance
Indicator D3. How much are teachers and school heads paid?
Highlights
Context
Salaries of school staff, and in particular teachers and school heads, represent the largest single cost in formal education. Teachers’ salaries have also a direct impact on the attractiveness of the teaching profession. They influence decisions to enrol in teacher education, to become a teacher after graduation, to return to the teaching profession after a career interruption and/or to remain a teacher (in general, the higher the salaries, the fewer the people who choose to leave the profession) (OECD, 2005[1]). The level of salaries can also have an impact on the decision to become a school head.
Burgeoning national debt, spurred by governments’ responses to the financial crisis of late 2008, has put pressure on policy makers to reduce government expenditure, particularly on public payrolls. Since compensation and working conditions are important for attracting, developing and retaining skilled and high‑quality teachers and school heads, it is important for policy makers to carefully consider their salaries and career prospects as they try to ensure both high-quality teaching and sustainable education budgets (see Indicators C6 and C7).
However, statutory salaries are just one component of teachers’ and school heads’ total compensation. Other benefits, such as regional allowances for teaching in remote areas, family allowances, reduced rates on public transport and tax allowances on the purchase of instructional materials, may also form part of teachers’ total remuneration. In addition, there are large differences in taxation and social benefits systems across OECD countries. This, as well as potential comparability issues related to data collected (see Box D3.1 and Annex 3), should be borne in mind when analysing teachers’ salaries and comparing them across countries.
Other findings
In most OECD countries, the salaries of teachers and school heads increase with the level of education they teach.
In at least three-quarters of countries and economies with available data, the minimum qualifications to enter the teaching profession are also the most prevalent qualifications of teachers.
Statutory salaries of teachers with maximum qualifications at the top of their salary scales are, on average, between 86% and 89% higher than those of teachers on minimum salaries and with minimum qualifications at the start of their career.
Between 2005 and 2018, on average across OECD countries and economies with available data, statutory salaries of teachers with 15 years of experience and most prevalent qualifications increased by 10% at primary level, 9% at lower secondary level (general programmes) and 6% at upper secondary level (general programmes).
Statutory salaries of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary teachers with 15 years of experience and minimum qualifications have now exceeded pre-crisis levels.
School heads are less likely than teachers to receive additional compensation for performing responsibilities over and above their regular tasks. School heads and teachers working in a disadvantaged or remote area are rewarded with additional compensation in half of the OECD countries and economies with available data.
Figure D3.1. Lower secondary teachers' and school heads’ salaries relative to earnings for tertiary-educated workers (2018)
Actual salaries (annual average salaries including bonuses and allowances) of teachers and school heads in general lower secondary education in public institutions
1. Data on earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education refer to the United Kingdom.
2. Data on earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education refer to Belgium.
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the ratio of teachers' salaries to earnings for full-time, full-year tertiary-educated workers aged 25-64.
Source: OECD (2019), Table D3.2a. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Analysis
Statutory salaries of teachers
Statutory salaries of teachers can vary according to a number of factors, including the level of education taught, the qualification level of teachers and the level of experience or the stage of the career of teachers.
By level of education
Teachers’ salaries vary widely across countries. The salaries of lower secondary school teachers with 15 years of experience and most prevalent qualifications (a proxy for mid-career salaries of teachers) range from less than USD 25 000 in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic to more than USD 60 000 in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States, and they exceed USD 100 000 in Luxembourg (Table D3.1a).
In most countries and economies with available information, teachers’ salaries increase with the level of education they teach. In the Flemish and French communities of Belgium, and Norway, upper secondary teachers with 15 years of experience and the most prevalent qualifications earn between 25% and 30% more than pre-primary teachers with the same experience, while in Lithuania, Finland and the Slovak Republic they earn 36 to 50% more, and in Mexico, 89% more. In Finland and the Slovak Republic, the difference is mainly explained by the gap between pre-primary and primary teachers’ salaries. In the Flemish and French communities of Belgium, teachers’ salaries at upper secondary level are significantly higher than at other levels of education (Table D3.1a).
The increase in salaries between teachers (with 15 years of experience and most prevalent qualifications) at pre-primary and upper secondary levels is less than 5% in Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, France and Slovenia, and teachers have the same salary irrespective of the level of education taught in Colombia, England (United Kingdom), Greece, Poland, Portugal, Scotland (United Kingdom) and Turkey (Table D3.1a).
However, in Israel the salary of a pre-primary teacher is about 5% higher than the salary of an upper secondary teacher. This difference results from the “New Horizon” reform, begun in 2008 and almost fully implemented by 2014, which increased salaries for pre-primary, primary and lower secondary teachers. Another reform, launched in 2012 with implementation ongoing, aims to raise salaries for upper secondary teachers.
By level of qualification
The minimum qualifications required to teach at a given level of education in the public school system refers to the minimum duration and type of training required (based on official documents) to enter the profession. The “most prevalent” level of qualifications refers to the level of qualifications and training held by the largest proportion of teachers. It can be defined either for a level of education or at a specific stage of the teaching career (see Annex 3 for the description of qualification levels).
Countries may require different minimum levels of qualifications to teach at various levels of education. Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Spain and Switzerland require a higher degree (master’s or equivalent) to teach either at general lower and/or upper secondary level than at primary level. This helps explain the higher salaries observed at these levels in those countries.
Differences in salaries of teachers between those with the minimum and most prevalent qualifications are by no means the general rule: in countries with a large proportion of teachers with the minimum qualification, they may also represent the most prevalent qualification. In about three-quarters of countries and economies with available information (or more, depending on the level of education taught), the minimum qualification to enter the teaching profession is also the most prevalent qualification at that level (as a consequence, there is no difference in statutory salaries between teachers with minimum and most prevalent qualifications throughout a teacher’s career).
In the remaining countries and economies, the most prevalent qualification at a level of education is higher than the minimum qualification required, and this is recognised by the compensation system. Among the 15 countries with available data, the salaries of teachers with the most prevalent qualifications are at least 10% higher than those of teachers with the minimum qualifications in Colombia (pre-primary and primary levels), the Flemish Community of Belgium (upper secondary level), Norway (upper secondary level), Poland (pre-primary, primary and lower secondary levels) and the United States (primary, lower and upper secondary levels), and at some stages of a teacher’s career only in Canada, Colombia (lower and upper secondary levels), the French Community of Belgium, Greece, Mexico, New Zealand and Norway (primary and lower secondary levels). The difference in teachers’ salaries between those with the most prevalent and the minimum qualifications exceeds 75% in Costa Rica. However, the salaries of teachers with the most prevalent qualifications are still at least 20% lower than the OECD average (at all stages of the teachers’ careers and at all levels of education). Caution is necessary when interpreting these differences in salaries, as in some countries only a very small proportion of teachers have the minimum qualification required (Tables D3.1b and D3.1c, available on line).
The most prevalent qualifications of teachers may also vary according to the number of years of experience teachers have. This is the case in a small number of countries (Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway and the United States), and the difference can refer to one or several of the four career stages taken into account (starting point, 10 years of experience, 15 years of experience and top of the range) in one or several levels of education. This is usually linked to recent reforms related to the compensation system and/or qualification requirements for teachers. In Ireland, for example, the salary arrangements have changed for teachers who entered the teaching profession from the beginning of 2011. The salaries related to most prevalent qualifications for teachers with 10 or more years of experience refer to the salary arrangement in place for teachers appointed prior to 2012 (the difference in salary varies from 8% to 17% according to levels of education and stage of the career). In Norway, the most prevalent qualification when entering the teaching profession at the primary and lower secondary level is the minimum qualification, and then differs from the most prevalent qualification of all teachers at these levels of education (Table D3.1a and Table D3.1b, available on line).
By level of experience
Salary structures usually define the salaries paid to teachers at different points in their careers. Deferred compensation, which rewards employees for staying in organisations or professions and for meeting established performance criteria, is also used in teachers’ salary structures. OECD data on teachers’ salaries are limited to information on statutory salaries at four points of the salary scale: starting salaries, salaries after 10 years of experience, salaries after 15 years of experience and salaries at the top of the scale. Further qualifications also influence differences in starting and maximum salaries and lead to wage increases in some countries.
In OECD countries, teachers’ salaries rise during the course of their career (for a given qualification level), although the rate of change differs across countries. For lower secondary teachers with the most prevalent qualifications, average statutory salaries after 10 years of experience are 30% higher than average starting salaries, and 38% higher with 15 years of experience. In addition, average salaries at the top of the scale (reached after an average of 25 years of experience) are 67% higher than the average starting salaries. In Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea and Spain, lower secondary school teachers reach the top of the salary scale only after at least 35 years of service. By contrast, lower secondary teachers in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland (United Kingdom) reach the highest step on the salary scale after 6-7 years (Table D3.1b and Table D3.3a, available on line).
In addition to pay scales, the number of years required to reach the top of scale is an indication of the speed of career progression and perspectives. In general, the wider the range between minimum and maximum salaries, the more years it takes for teachers to achieve maximum status. For example, it takes only 6-7 years to reach this level in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland (United Kingdom), but the maximum salary in these countries and economies is only about 33-53% higher than starting salaries, compared to 66% on average across OECD countries with available data for salaries at both starting point and top of the scale. However, this is not true of all countries. For example, while teachers with the most prevalent qualifications in both the Czech Republic and Israel will reach the top of their scale within approximately 32-36 years, maximum statutory salaries in the Czech Republic are only 32% higher than starting statutory salaries, compared to 105% higher in Israel (Table D3.3a, available on line).
Statutory salaries per hour of net teaching time
As the number of hours of teaching varies considerably between countries and also between levels of education, differences in statutory salaries of teachers may also translate into different levels of salary per teaching hour. The average statutory salary per teaching hour after 15 years of experience and with the most prevalent qualifications is USD 56 for primary teachers, USD 65 for lower secondary teachers and USD 75 for upper secondary teachers in general education (Table D3.3a, available on line).
Because secondary teachers are required to teach fewer hours than primary teachers, their salaries per teaching hour are usually higher than those of teachers at lower levels of education, even in countries where statutory salaries are similar (see Indicator D4). On average across OECD countries, upper secondary teachers’ salaries per teaching hour exceed those of primary teachers by about 28%. In Scotland (United Kingdom), there is no difference, while in Mexico, the salary per teaching hour for an upper secondary teacher is at least 73% higher than that for a primary teacher. In Costa Rica and Lithuania, the salary per teaching hour is higher at the primary level (Table D3.3a, available on line).
However, for countries with similar statutory salaries at primary and secondary levels, these difference in salaries per teaching hour between primary and secondary teachers may disappear when comparing salaries per hour of working time, as teachers’ statutory working time is usually similar at primary and secondary level (see Indicator D4).
By level of experience and qualification: Minimum and maximum teachers’ salaries
Countries that are looking to increase the supply of teachers, especially those with an ageing teacher workforce and/or a growing school-age population, might consider offering more attractive starting wages and career prospects. However, to ensure a well-qualified teaching workforce, efforts must be made not only to recruit and select, but also to retain the most competent and qualified teachers.
At the lower secondary level, the average statutory salary of a teacher with the most prevalent qualification level with 15 years of experience is 40% higher than that of a starting teacher with minimum qualifications. At the top of the salary range with maximum qualifications, the average statutory salary is 85% higher than the average starting salary with the minimum qualification (Figure D3.2).
In terms of the maximum statutory salary range, from starting salaries (with minimum qualifications) to maximum salaries (with maximum qualifications), most countries and economies with starting salaries below the OECD average also have maximum salaries that are below the OECD average. At the lower secondary level, the most notable exceptions are Colombia, England (United Kingdom), Korea and Mexico, where starting salaries are at least 5% lower than the OECD average, but maximum salaries are 18% to 45% higher. These differences may be reflective of the different career paths available to teachers’ with different qualifications in these countries. The opposite is true in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, where starting salaries are between 7% and 45% higher than the OECD average, while maximum salaries are at least 5% lower than the OECD average (7% to 29% lower). This results from relatively flat/compressed salary scales in a number of these countries (Tables D3.1c and D3.6, available on line).
Weak financial incentives may make it more difficult to retain teachers as they approach the peak of their earnings. However, there may be some benefits to compressed pay scales. For example, organisations in which there are smaller differences in salaries among employees may enjoy more trust, freer flows of information and more collegiality among co-workers.
Figure D3.2. Lower secondary teachers’ statutory salaries at different points in teachers’ careers (2018)
Annual statutory salaries of teachers in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs
1. Actual base salaries.
2. Salaries at top of scale and minimum qualifications, instead of maximum qualifications.
3. Salaries at top of scale and most prevalent qualifications, instead of maximum qualifications.
4. Includes the average of fixed bonuses for overtime hours.
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of starting salaries for lower secondary teachers with minimum qualifications.
Source: OECD (2019), Table D3.1a, Tables D3.1c and D3.6, available on line. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes
By contrast, for lower secondary teachers, maximum salaries (at top of scale, with maximum qualifications) are at least double the starting salaries (with minimum qualifications) in the French Community of Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, England (United Kingdom), France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Portugal and more than three times higher in Colombia and Mexico (Figure D3.2).
The salary premium for maximum qualifications at the top of teachers’ pay scales, compared to most prevalent qualifications after 15 years of experience also varies across countries. At lower secondary level, the pay gap is less than 10% in a quarter of OECD countries and economies, while it exceeds 60% in Chile, Colombia, France, Hungary, Israel, Mexico and Portugal (Table D3.6, available on line and Figure D3.2).
When analysing starting salaries (with minimum qualifications) and maximum salaries (i.e. those at the top of the salary scale with maximum qualification), it is important to bear in mind a couple of things. First, minimum qualifications are the most prevalent in the majority of countries. Second, not all teachers may aim for or reach the top of the salary scale and in some systems few of them may hold the minimum or maximum qualifications (Table X2.5).
Box D3.1. Comparability issues related to data on salaries of teachers and school heads
Meaningful international comparisons rely on the provision and implementation of rigorous definitions and a related statistical methodology. In view of the diversity across countries of both their education and their teachers’ compensation systems, adhering to these guidelines and methodology is not always straightforward. Some caution is therefore required when interpreting these data.
Teachers’ salaries at different level of experience are collected based on the qualification level of teachers. The minimum and most prevalent qualification level are then used to distinguish pay scales. The number of pay scales that exist and the proportion of teachers who are paid according to each one varies substantially between countries. Some countries have many pay scales while others have few (or only one). In the case of federal countries, such as Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States, the structure of pay scales varies between states (and between municipalities in some cases), an average of pay scales from the subnational entities (or actual salaries) is reported by countries. This means the data on statutory salaries do not directly correspond to any particular group of teachers within these countries. Data at the subnational level illustrate the variations in pay systems within countries (Box D3.2).
Multiple pay scales in a country can mean that only a small proportion of teachers are paid according to the pay scale related to the most prevalent qualification. In contrast, in many countries the minimum qualification is also the most prevalent one, and then the proportion of teachers paid according to the related salary scale can represent the largest proportion of teachers at this level. There tends to be a greater number of pay scales for school heads then for teachers, as several criteria are taken into account to determine the level of compensation of school heads This means that the salaries for the most prevalent qualification maybe less representative for school heads.
Salaries for teachers with minimum or maximum qualifications need to be compared with caution as in some cases a large share of the teaching population in a country may have the minimum or maximum, while in other cases there may be very few teachers in these positions. In some countries, maximum/top of the scale statutory salaries for school heads may be notional. It is possible to be paid at that level, but few (if any) school heads are actually paid the maximum salary. No inference can be drawn from the data about how school heads are distributed between the minimum and maximum pay in each pay scale.
How schools grades are grouped together into levels of education also varies between countries. For example, in New Zealand there is no separate lower secondary system. The first two years of lower secondary are part of the primary system and the second two years are covered by the secondary system. As a result, statutory salaries reported by level of education may be averages of different groups of teachers rather than relating to specific pay scales for teaching at that level. In Norway, similar salary levels for primary and secondary school teachers are reported as teachers often teach at both levels and the salary level of teachers depends on their educational attainment rather than on the level of education at which they teach.
The role of teachers and school heads and also the way their compensation systems operate differ between countries. The allowances given to teachers in addition to their salaries gives some insight into this. For example, 13 countries give their lower secondary teachers an allowance for student counselling, while 18 countries give no such allowance but 4 of these countries (Greece, Latvia, Slovenia and Switzerland) require teachers to perform this task without additional compensation. Differences in roles are even more evident among school heads; the tasks that are required or expected of them vary between countries. Their level of responsibility may also vary, as well as the scale of the institutions they manage.
For more information on comparability issues, see the notes for specific countries in Annex 3.
Salary trends since 2000
Among the half of the OECD countries with available data on statutory salaries of teachers with most prevalent qualifications (with 15 years of experience) for 2000 and 2018 (and no break in the time series), teachers’ salaries increased overall in real terms in most of these countries during this period. Notable exceptions are England (United Kingdom), where there was a decline of 3%; France, where salaries declined by up to 6%; and Greece where salaries decreased by 17%. There were also slight declines in teachers’ salaries in real terms (less than 2%) in Italy (for primary and secondary education). Salaries increased by more than 30% across primary and secondary education levels in Ireland and Israel. However, in some countries, the overall increase in teachers’ salaries between 2000 and 2018 includes periods of decrease in salaries (in real terms), particularly from 2010 (Table D3.5a, available on line).
Over the period 2005-18, for which three-quarters of OECD countries and economies have comparable data for at least one level of education, more than half showed an increase in real terms in the statutory salaries of teachers with 15 years of experience and most prevalent qualifications. On average across OECD countries and economies with available data for the reference years of 2005 and 2018, statutory salaries increased by 10% at primary level, 9% at lower secondary level and 6% at upper secondary level. The increase exceeded 20% in Poland at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels (the result of a 2007 government programme that aimed to increase teachers’ salaries successively between 2008 and 2013, and also since 2017 and to improve the quality of education by providing financial incentives to attract high-quality teachers) and also in Israel, Luxembourg (pre-primary and primary), Norway and Sweden.
Figure D3.3. Change in teachers’ salaries in OECD countries (2005 to 2018)
Average index of change, among OECD countries with data on statutory salaries for all reference years, for teachers with 15 years of experience and minimum qualifications (2005 = 100, constant prices)
Source: OECD (2019), Table D3.5b, available on line. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
In most countries, the salary increases were similar across primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels between 2005 and 2018. However, this is not the case in Israel, where salaries increased by more than 56% at pre-primary level, 40% at primary level, 52% at lower secondary level and 50% at upper secondary level. This is largely the result of the gradual implementation of the “New Horizon” reform in primary and lower secondary schools, which began in 2008 following an agreement between the education authorities and the Israeli Teachers Union (for primary and lower secondary education). This reform included raising teachers’ pay in exchange for longer working hours (see Indicator D4).
By contrast, salaries have decreased slightly since 2005 in a few countries: France (secondary), Italy, Portugal, Scotland (United Kingdom) and Spain, and they decreased by at least 10% in England (United Kingdom) and Japan, and by more than 25% in Greece as the result of reductions in remuneration, implementation of new wage grids and salary freezes since 2011 (Table D3.5a).
However, these overall changes in teachers’ salaries in OECD countries between 2005 and 2018 mask different periods of change in teachers’ salaries, as a result of the impact of the economic downturn in 2008. On average across OECD countries and economies with available data for all years over the period, salaries were either frozen or cut between 2009 and 2013, before starting to increase again (Figure D3.3). Statutory salaries for primary, lower and upper secondary teachers with minimum qualifications have now exceeded pre-crisis levels, on average across OECD countries with data for all reference years.
Statutory salaries of school heads
The responsibilities of school heads may vary between countries and also within countries, depending on the schools they are responsible for. School heads may exercise educational responsibilities (which may include teaching tasks but also responsibility for the general functioning of the institution in areas such as the timetable, implementation of the curriculum, decisions about what is taught, and the materials and methods used). They may also have other administrative, staff management and financial responsibilities.
Differences in the nature of the work carried out by school heads are reflected in the systems of compensation used within countries. School heads may be paid according to a specific salary range and may or may not receive a school-head allowance on top of the statutory salary. However, they can also be paid in accordance with the salary scale(s) of teachers and receive an additional school-head allowance. The use of teachers’ salary ranges may reflect the fact that school heads are initially teachers with additional responsibilities. At lower secondary level, school heads are paid according to teachers’ salary scales, with a school-head allowance, in 13 out of the 33 countries with available information, and according to a specific salary range in the other countries. Of these, 12 countries have no specific school-head allowance and 8 countries have a school-head allowance. The amounts payable to school heads (through statutory salaries and/or school-head allowances) may vary according to criteria related to the school(s) where the school head is based (for example the size of the school based on the number of students enrolled, number of teachers supervised, etc.). They could also vary according to the individual characteristics of the school heads themselves, such as the duties they have to perform or their years of experience (Table D3.9, available on line).
Considering the large number of criteria involved in teachers’ statutory salaries, the statutory salary data for school heads focuses on the minimum qualification requirements to become a school head, and Table D3.10 shows only the minimum and maximum values. Caution is necessary when interpreting these values because salaries often depend on many criteria and as a result few school heads may earn these amounts.
At lower secondary level, the minimum salary is USD 49 629 on average across OECD countries, varying from USD 19 184 in Latvia to USD 116 560 in Luxembourg, and the maximum salary is USD 85 700 on average across OECD countries, varying from USD 29 715 in the Czech Republic to USD 161 200 in Luxembourg. Caution is necessary when interpreting these values, as minimum and maximum statutory salaries refer to school heads in different types of schools. About half of OECD countries have similar pay ranges for primary and lower secondary school heads, while upper secondary school heads benefit, on average, from higher statutory salaries.
On average across OECD countries and economies, the maximum statutory salary of a school head with minimum qualifications is 80% higher than the minimum statutory salary in primary education, 77% higher than in lower secondary and 74% higher than in upper secondary. There are only 12 countries where school heads at the top of the scale can expect to earn twice the statutory starting salary in at least one of these levels of education; in Costa Rica, they can expect to earn more than three times the starting salary.
Figure D3.4. Minimum and maximum statutory salaries for lower secondary teachers and school heads (2018)
Based on teachers with most prevalent qualifications at a given level of education and school heads with minimum qualifications
1. Actual base salaries.
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of maximum salaries of school heads.
Source: OECD (2019), Table D3.1b available on line and Table D3.10. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
The minimum statutory salaries for school heads with minimum qualifications are higher than the starting salaries of teachers, except in Costa Rica and Lithuania (primary and secondary). The difference between minimum salaries for school heads (with minimum qualifications) and starting salaries for teachers (with the most prevalent qualifications) increases with levels of education: 23% on average across OECD countries and economies at pre-primary level, 33% at primary level, 44% at lower secondary level and 45% at upper secondary level. In a few countries, the minimum statutory salary of school heads is even higher than the maximum salary of teachers. This is the case at lower secondary level in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England (United Kingdom), Finland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland (United Kingdom), Slovenia and the United States (Figure D3.4).
Similarly, the maximum statutory salaries of school heads are higher than those of teachers for all OECD countries and economies with available data. At the top of their scale, at lower secondary level, the maximum statutory salary of a school head is 48% higher than the salary of teachers at the top of the range (with most prevalent qualifications), on average across OECD countries and economies. However, maximum statutory salaries of school heads in Chile, Colombia, England (United Kingdom), Hungary, Iceland, Mexico and Scotland (United Kingdom) are more than twice the statutory salaries at the top of the range for teachers. (Figure D3.4).
Actual average salaries of teachers and school heads
Unlike statutory salaries, teachers’ and school heads’ actual salaries may include work-related payments, such as annual bonuses, results-related bonuses, extra pay for holidays, sick-leave pay and other additional payments (see the Definitions section). These bonuses and allowances can represent a significant addition to base salaries. In this case, actual average salaries are influenced by the prevalence of bonuses and allowances in the compensation system, on top of factors such as the level of experience or the qualifications level of the teaching workforce. Differences between statutory and actual average salaries are also linked to the distribution of teachers by years of experience and qualifications, as these two factors have an impact on the salary level of teachers.
Across OECD countries and economies, average actual salaries of teachers aged 25-64 are USD 36 247 at pre‑primary level, USD 40 580 at primary level, USD 42 553 at lower secondary level and USD 45 803 at upper secondary level. Average actual salaries of school heads aged 25-64 vary from USD 61 791 at primary level, USD 66 534 at lower secondary level and USD 72 081 at upper secondary level (Table D3.4) (see Box D3.2 for variations at subnational level).
Among the 28 OECD countries and economies with available data on both the statutory salaries of teachers with 15 years of experience and most prevalent qualifications, and the actual salaries of 25-64 year-old teachers for at least one level of education, actual annual salaries are 10% higher than statutory salaries in one-sixth (at pre‑primary level) to one-third (at upper secondary level) of countries.
Figure D3.5. Actual salaries of lower secondary teachers and school heads (2017)
Annual actual salaries of teachers and school heads in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs
1. Year of reference differs from 2016. See Table D3.4 for more information.
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of actual salaries of school heads.
Source: OECD (2019), Table D3.4. See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Actual salaries of school heads are higher than those of teachers, and the premium increases with levels of education. On average across OECD countries and economies, actual salaries of school heads are 52% higher than those of teachers at primary level. The premium is 56% at lower secondary level, and 57% at upper secondary level. The difference between actual salaries of school heads and teachers varies widely between countries and between levels of education. The countries and economies with the highest premium for school heads compared to teachers are England (United Kingdom) (secondary levels) and Italy (primary and secondary levels), where the actual salaries of school heads are twice that of teachers. The lowest premiums, of less than 25%, are in Estonia (at primary and secondary), Finland (pre-primary), Latvia (lower secondary), Norway (pre‑primary) and Turkey. Other countries show a steep rise in salaries of school heads compared to teachers at the secondary level, while there is a more moderate difference at primary level. For example in Denmark, actual salaries of school heads are 28% higher than teachers at pre-primary level but the difference is 40% at lower secondary and 59% at upper secondary level. In Latvia, the difference is much larger at pre-primary and primary levels than at lower and upper secondary level (Table D3.4).
Box D3.2. Subnational variations in teachers' salaries at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels
For each country, teachers’ statutory salaries can vary by level of education and by level of experience. Salaries can also vary significantly among subnational entities within each country, especially in federal countries where salary requirements may be defined at the subnational level. Subnational data provided by four countries (Belgium, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States) illustrate these variations at the subnational level.
In these four countries, statutory salaries vary to a differing extent between subnational entities, depending on the stage teachers have reached in their careers. In 2018 in Belgium, for example, the starting salary of a primary school teacher varied by only 3% (USD 1 101), ranging from USD 36 589 in the French Community to USD 37 690 in the Flemish Community. In comparison, subnational variation was largest in Canada, where the starting salary of a primary school teacher varied by 80% (USD 25 710) across subnational entities, ranging from USD 32 279 in Quebec to USD 57 989 in the Northwest Territories. Similar patterns were observed in the starting salaries for lower secondary and upper secondary teachers.
In Belgium, the extent of the variation of statutory salaries between subnational entities remains relatively even across all levels of education and stages of teachers’ careers. In contrast, in both Canada and the United Kingdom, the variation across subnational entities was greater for starting salaries than for salaries at the top of the scale. For example, at the upper secondary level, starting salaries in the United Kingdom varied by 23% (USD 6 583) between subnational entities, from USD 28 186 to USD 34 769, while salaries at the top of the salary scale varied by only 6% (USD 2 728), from USD 46 227 to USD 48 956. In the United States, there was no clear pattern in the extent of the variation of statutory salaries across subnational entities at different levels of education and stages of teachers’ careers. At the lower secondary level, the variation was the smallest for starting salaries, ranging from USD 34 243 to USD 59 927 (a difference of 75%, or USD 25 684) and the largest for salaries at top of the salary scale, ranging from USD 54 081 to USD 110 661 (a difference of 105%, or USD 56 580).
There is also large subnational variation in actual salaries of teachers and school heads among the three countries (Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States) with available data in 2017. In both the United Kingdom and the United States, the subnational variation in actual salaries was much greater among school heads than among teachers. For example, at the upper secondary level, teachers’ salaries in the United Kingdom (among subnational entities with available data) ranged from USD 42 474 in Scotland to USD 51 307 in Northern Ireland, a difference of 21% or USD 8 832. In comparison, school heads’ salaries ranged from USD 66 023 in Scotland to USD 111 801 in England, a difference of 69% or USD 45 778. Subnational variation in actual salaries was much smaller among both teachers and school heads in Belgium. For example, the salaries of upper secondary school heads ranged from USD 92 707 in the French Community to USD 94 989 in the Flemish Community, a difference of 2% or USD 2 283.
The extent of the subnational variation in actual salaries (for teachers and school heads) also varies according to level of education. For both teachers and school heads in the United Kingdom (for subnational entities with available data), subnational variation was greater in actual salaries at the lower and upper secondary levels than at the primary level. In the United States, subnational variation in actual salaries of teachers was the largest at the primary level, while subnational variation among school heads was largest at the upper secondary level.
Source: Education at a Glance Database. http://stats.oecd.org.
Teachers’ and school heads’ actual salaries relative to earnings for tertiary-educated workers
Education systems compete with other sectors of the economy to attract high-quality graduates as teachers. Research shows that salaries and alternative employment opportunities are important factors in the attractiveness of teaching (Johnes and Johnes, 2004[2]). Teachers’ salaries relative to those of other occupations (with similar education requirements) and the likely growth in earnings may have a huge influence on a graduate’s decision to become a teacher and stay in the profession. The career prospects of school heads and their relative salaries are also a signal of the career progression pathways available to teachers and the compensation they can expect in the longer term.
Box D3.3. How teachers’ salaries compare to similarly educated workers
Differences between actual salaries for male and female teachers are small: 3% or less in favour of men, on average, at primary and secondary levels. However, there are larger gender differences in the ratio of teachers’ salaries to earnings for tertiary-educated workers aged 25-64. On average across OECD countries and economies, the actual salaries of male teachers (aged 25-64) range from 73% (at primary level) to 83% (at upper secondary level) of the earnings of a tertiary-educated 25-64 year-old full-time, full-year male worker. Teachers’ actual salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers are about 31 to 40 percentage points higher among women than among the men at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels of education. This higher earnings ratio among female teachers shows that teaching may be more attractive to women than to men compared to other professions, but it also reflects the persistent gender gap in earnings (in favour of men) in the labour market (Tables D3.2 and D3.4).
A survey launched in 2018 collected information on the distribution of teachers by attainment level, with a breakdown of teachers by gender (and age groups). With these data, it was then possible to compute the actual salaries of teachers relative to the weighted average earnings of similarly educated workers for a small number of countries. This helps to remove the differences in educational attainment by gender between teachers and tertiary-educated workers when comparing actual salaries to earnings.
Among the five countries with available data at the lower secondary level, these weighted ratios show an impact on the value of the relative earnings, implying differences in the breakdown by attainment level and/or salaries between teachers and tertiary-educated workers. However, the impact can result in either a decrease or an increase in relative salaries. These ratios also show that female teachers earn salaries that are closer to that of their peers than do their male colleagues. For example, in these countries a woman teaching at the lower secondary level earns between 73% and 121% of the earnings of a similarly educated woman. In contrast, men teaching at lower secondary earn between 53% and 78% of what similarly educated men earn (Figure D3.a).
At primary and secondary levels, the actual salaries of older teachers (aged 55-64) are, on average, 35-37% higher than those of younger teachers (aged 25-34), but this difference between age groups varies considerably between countries and economies. The difference is less than 20% at all levels of education in Australia, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, while it is 60% or more in Austria, Greece, Israel and Portugal (Table D3.4).
Figure D3.a. Lower secondary teachers' actual salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers, aged 25- 64 (2018)
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of weighted relative salaries of women teachers
Source: OECD (2019). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Despite the increase in teachers’ salaries for older age groups, comparing teachers’ salaries with the earnings of tertiary-educated workers seems to show that teachers’ salaries may evolve at a slower rate than the earnings of other workers and that the teaching profession becomes less attractive as the workforce ages. On average across OECD countries and economies, teachers’ actual salaries relative to the earnings of tertiary-educated workers are about 10 percentage points higher among 25-34 year-olds than among the older age groups (55-64 year-olds) at lower secondary level. However, there are large differences between countries, and in Chile, Greece, Hungary, Israel and Latvia, teachers’ actual salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers are higher for older age groups at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels.
The comparison of salaries of teachers and earnings of tertiary-educated workers might be biased by differences in the attainment level and/or the earnings of teachers and tertiary-educated workers in the different age groups. The survey on data availability on the distribution of teachers by attainment level gathered data on these distributions by age group in a few countries. This made it possible to compute relative salaries of teachers by age group, removing the differences in the attainment distribution between teachers and tertiary-educated workers. As with the relative salaries by gender, this has a significant impact on the relative measure of salaries of teachers by age group. The effect can either increase or decrease relative salaries and the magnitude of the change varies between age groups. The relative salaries of teachers in this group of countries follow a similar pattern across age groups. The youngest teachers (age 25-34) earn between 66% and 110% of the earnings of similarly educated 25-34 year-olds. However older cohorts earn notably less, with teachers aged 45-54 earning between 52% and 89% of the earnings of similarly educated, similarly aged workers.
In most OECD countries, a tertiary degree is required to become a teacher and then a school head, at all levels of education, meaning the likely alternative to teacher education is a similar tertiary education programme. Thus, to interpret salary levels in different countries and reflect comparative labour-market conditions, actual salaries are compared to the earnings of other tertiary-educated professionals: 25-64 year-old full-time, full-year workers with a similar tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8) (see Box D3.3 for data by age group or gender). Moreover, to ensure that the comparison between countries is not biased by differences in the distribution of tertiary attainment level among teachers and tertiary-educated workers more generally, actual salaries of teachers are compared to a weighted average of earnings of similarly educated workers (the earnings of similarly educated workers weighted by the proportion of teachers with similar tertiary attainment) (see Tables X2.11a and X2.11b in Annex 2 for the proportion of teachers and school heads by attainment level).
Among the 22 countries and economies with available data (for at least one level), actual salaries of teachers amount to 65% or less of earnings of similarly educated workers in the Czech Republic (primary and secondary) and the United States. Very few countries and economies have actual teachers’ salaries that reach or exceed those of similarly educated workers. However, in the Flemish Community of Belgium, actual salaries of teachers are the same as those of similarly educated workers at pre-primary and primary levels, and in Latvia, they are 15% higher at the pre-primary level and 47-60% higher at primary and secondary levels (Table D3.2a).
Considering the few countries with available data for this relative measure of teachers’ salaries, a second benchmark is based on the actual salaries of all teachers, relative to earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 to 8) (see the Methodology section). Against this benchmark, actual teachers’ salaries relative to other tertiary-educated workers increase with higher education levels. Pre-primary teachers’ salaries amount to 78% of full-time, full-year earnings, on average, among 25-64 year-olds with tertiary education. Primary teachers earn 84% of the benchmark salary, lower secondary teachers 88% and upper secondary teachers 93% (Table D3.2a).
In almost all countries and economies with available information, and at almost all levels of education, teachers’ actual salaries are lower than those of tertiary-educated workers. The relative salary of teachers is lowest in the Slovak Republic at the pre-primary level, where teachers’ salaries are 50% of those of tertiary-educated workers, in the United States at the primary level (63% those of tertiary-educated workers), and in the Czech Republic at primary and secondary levels where they reach 64% to 66% of those of tertiary-educated workers. However in some countries, teachers earn more than tertiary-educated adults at all levels of education (Costa Rica, Latvia and Portugal), or at some levels of education only (at upper secondary level in Finland and the Flemish and French communities of Belgium, at lower and upper secondary levels in Germany). In Latvia and Portugal, teachers earn at least 30% more than tertiary-educated workers. (Table D3.2a and Figure D3.1).
School heads earn more than teachers and, unlike teachers, typically earn more than similarly educated workers at all the levels of education considered. This difference tends to increase with the level of education. Among the 17 OECD countries and economies with available data (for at least one level), it is only pre-primary school heads in Estonia, Finland and Norway whose actual salaries are on average at least 5% lower than the earnings of similarly educated workers. In contrast, school heads’ salaries are at least 40% higher than similarly educated workers in the Flemish Community of Belgium (pre-primary, primary and lower secondary), England (United Kingdom) (secondary), Latvia and New Zealand (primary and secondary). At the upper secondary level in Latvia, school heads earn twice as much as similarly educated workers.
As with teachers, there are only a few countries with available data for this relative measure of school heads’ salaries. Hence, a second benchmark is based on the actual salaries of all school heads, relative to earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education. Using this measure, on average across OECD countries and economies, school heads earn 25% more than tertiary-educated adults at primary level, 34% more at lower secondary level and 43% more at upper secondary level. School heads earn less than tertiary‑educated adults only in the Czech Republic (pre-primary level), Denmark (pre-primary level), Estonia (pre-primary level), Finland (pre-primary level), Norway (pre‑primary level) and in Turkey (for pre-primary, primary and secondary levels).
Formation of base salary and additional payments: Incentives and allowances
Statutory salaries, based on pay scales, are only one component of the total compensation of teachers and school heads. School systems also offer additional payments to teachers and school heads, such as allowances, bonuses or other rewards. These may take the form of financial remuneration and/or reductions in the number of teaching hours, and decisions on the criteria used for the formation of the base salary are taken at different decision-making levels (Tables D3.8 and D3.12, available on line).
Criteria for additional payments vary across countries. In the large majority of countries, teachers’ core tasks (teaching, planning or preparing lessons, marking students’ work, general administrative work, communicating with parents, supervising students and working with colleagues) are rarely considered to merit bonuses or additional payments (Table D3.7, available on line). Teachers may also be required to have some responsibilities or perform some tasks without additional compensations (see Indicator D4 for the tasks and responsibilities of teachers).Taking on other responsibilities, however, often entails some sort of extra compensation.
At lower secondary level, teachers who participate in school management activities in addition to their teaching duties received extra compensation in two-thirds of countries and economies with available information.
It is also common to see additional payments, either annual or occasional, when teachers teach more classes or hours than required by their full-time contract, have responsibility as a class or form teacher, or perform special tasks, such as training student teachers (Table D3.7, available on line).
Additional compensation, either in the form of occasional additional or annual payments or through increases in basic salary, is also awarded for outstanding performance by lower secondary teachers in about half of OECD countries and economies with available data. Additional payments can also include bonuses for special teaching conditions, such as teaching students with special needs in regular schools or teaching in disadvantaged, remote or high-cost areas (Table D3.7, available on line).
There are also criteria for additional payments for school heads, but fewer tasks or responsibilities lead to additional payments compared to teachers. At lower secondary level, only a few countries do not offer any type of additional compensation to their school heads: Austria, the French Community of Belgium and Portugal (Table D3.11, available on line).
Among the 31 countries with available data, nearly one-third provide additional compensation to school heads for participating in management tasks over and above their usual school-head responsibilities or for working overtime. About half of the countries (Australia, Austria, the French Community of Belgium, Chile, England [United Kingdom], Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland) provide additional compensation for teachers when they take on extra responsibilities, but do not provide any additional payments to school heads (Table D3.11, available on line). The extent to which teachers receive additional compensation for taking on extra responsibilities and the activities for which teachers are compensated varies across these countries. As with teachers (see above), in some countries, such as Greece, a number of these responsibilities and tasks are considered part of teachers’ and school heads’ duties and so they are not compensated with any extra allowances.
At lower secondary level, additional compensation is also awarded to school heads for outstanding performance in more than one-third of the countries and economies with available data, as it is to teachers. However, Austria, Chile, England (United Kingdom), Israel and Turkey provide additional compensation for outstanding performance to teachers, but not to school heads. The opposite is observed in Colombia, France and Spain, where school heads are rewarded for high performance, but not teachers. In France, a part of the school-head allowance is awarded according to the results of a professional interview and is paid every three years (Tables D3.11 and D3.7, available on line).
Teachers and school heads are also likely to receive additional payments for working in disadvantaged, remote, or high-cost areas in half of the countries, with the exception of Australia, where such incentives are provided only to teachers. (Tables D3.11 and D3.7, available on line).
Definitions
Teachers refer to professional personnel directly involved in teaching students. The classification includes classroom teachers, special-education teachers and other teachers who work with a whole class of students in a classroom, in small groups in a resource room, or in one-to-one teaching situations inside or outside a regular class.
School head refers to any person whose primary or major function is heading a school or a group of schools, alone or within an administrative body such as a board or council. The school head is the primary leader responsible for the leadership, management and administration of a school.
Actual salaries for teachers/school heads aged 25-64 refer to the annual average earnings received by full-time teachers/school heads aged 25 to 64, before taxes. It is the gross salary from the employee’s point of view, since it includes the part of social security contributions and pension-scheme contributions that are paid by the employees (even if deducted automatically from the employees’ gross salary by the employer). However, the employers’ premium for social security and pension is excluded. Actual salaries also include work-related payments, such as school-head allowance, annual bonuses, results-related bonuses, extra pay for holidays and sick-leave pay. Income from other sources, such as government social transfers, investment income and any other income that is not directly related to their profession are not included.
Earnings for workers with tertiary education are average earnings for full-time, full-year workers aged 25-64 with an education at ISCED level 5, 6, 7 or 8.
Salary at the top of the scale refers to the maximum scheduled annual salary (top of the salary range) for a full‑time classroom teacher (for a given level of qualification of teachers recognised by the compensation system).
Salary after 15 years of experience refers to the scheduled annual salary of a full-time classroom teacher. Statutory salaries may refer to the salaries of teachers with a given level of qualification recognised by the compensation system (the minimum training necessary to be fully qualified, the most prevalent qualifications, or the maximum qualification), plus 15 years of experience.
Starting salary refers to the average scheduled gross salary per year for a full-time classroom teacher with a given level of qualification recognised by the compensation system (the minimum training necessary to be fully qualified or the most prevalent qualifications) at the beginning of the teaching career.
Statutory salaries refer to scheduled salaries according to official pay scales. The salaries reported are gross (total sum paid by the employer) less the employer’s contribution to social security and pension, according to existing salary scales. Salaries are “before tax” (i.e. before deductions for income tax).
Methodology
Data on teachers’ salary at lower and upper secondary level refer only to general programmes.
Salaries were converted using purchasing power parities (PPPs) for private consumption from the OECD National Accounts database. The period of reference for teachers’ salaries is from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018 for statutory data and from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017 for actual data. The reference date for PPPs is 2017/18 for statutory data and 2016/17 for actual data, except for some Southern Hemisphere countries (e.g. Australia and New Zealand), where the academic year runs from January to December. In these countries, the reference year is the calendar year (i.e. 2018 and 2017). Tables with salaries in national currency are included in Annex 2. To calculate changes in teachers’ salaries (Table D3.5a and Table D3.5b, available on line), the deflator for private consumption is used to convert salaries to 2005 prices.
In most countries, the criteria to determine the most prevalent qualifications of teachers are based on a principle of relative majority (i.e. the level of qualifications of the largest proportion of teachers).
In Table D3.2a, the ratios of salaries to earnings for full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education aged 25‑64 are calculated based on weighted averages of earnings of tertiary-educated workers (Columns 1 to 4 for teachers and Columns 10 to 13 for school heads). The weights, collected for every country individually, are based on the percentage of teachers or school heads by ISCED level of tertiary attainment (see Tables X2.11a. and X2.11b in Annex 2). The ratios have been calculated for countries for which these data are available. When data on earnings of workers referred to a different reference year than the 2017 reference year used for salaries of teachers or school heads, a deflator has been used to adjust earnings data to 2017 reference year). For all other ratios in Table D3.2a and those in Table D3.2c (available on line), information on all tertiary-educated workers was used instead of weighted averages. Data on earnings of workers take account of earnings from work for all individuals during the reference period, including salaries of teachers. In most countries, the population of teachers is large and may impact on the average earnings of workers. The same procedure was used in Table D3.2b (available on line), but the ratios are calculated using the statutory salaries of teachers with 15 years of experience instead of their actual salaries.
For more information please see the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018 (OECD, 2018[3]) and Annex 3 for country-specific notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Source
Data on salaries and bonuses for teachers and school heads are derived from the 2018 joint OECD/Eurydice data collection on salaries of teachers and school heads. Data refer to the school year 2017/18 (for statutory salaries) or 2016/17 (for actual salaries) and are reported in accordance with formal policies for public institutions. Data on earnings of workers are based on the regular data collection by the OECD LSO (Labour Market and Social Outcomes of Learning) Network.
Note regarding data from Israel
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and are under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
References
[2] Johnes, G. and J. Johnes (2004), International Handbook on the Economics of Education, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA.
[3] OECD (2018), OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
[1] OECD (2005), Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers, Education and Training Policy, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264018044-en.
Indicator D3. Tables
Table D3.1a Teachers’ statutory salaries, based on the most prevalent qualifications at different points in teachers’ careers (2018)
WEB Table D3.1b Teachers’ statutory salaries, based on the most prevalent qualifications at a given level of education (2018)
WEB Table D3.1c Teachers’ statutory salaries, based on the minimum qualifications to enter the teaching profession (2018)
Table D3.2a Actual salaries of teachers and school heads relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2018)
WEB Table D3.2b Teachers’ statutory salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2018)
WEB Table D3.2c Teachers’ actual salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers, by age group and by gender (2017)
WEB Table D3.2d School heads’ statutory salaries relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2018)
WEB Table D3.3a Comparison of teachers’ statutory salaries, based on the most prevalent qualifications of teachers by level of education (2018)
WEB Table D3.3b Comparison of teachers’ statutory salaries, based on the minimum qualifications required to enter the teaching profession in the reference year (2018)
Table D3.4 Average actual salaries of teachers and school heads, by age group and by gender (2017)
WEB Table D3.5a Trends in teachers’ salaries, based on most prevalent qualifications at different points in teachers’ careers, between 2000 and 2018
WEB Table D3.5b Trends in teachers’ salaries, based on minimum qualifications on entry to the profession, between 2000 and 2018
WEB Table D3.6 Starting/maximum teachers’ statutory salaries, based on minimum/maximum qualifications (2018)
WEB Table D3.7 Criteria used for base salaries and additional payments awarded to teachers in public institutions, all level of education (2018)
WEB Table D3.8 Decision-making level for criteria used for determining teachers’ base salaries and additional payments, by level of education (2018)
WEB Table D3.9 Structure of compensation system for school heads (2018)
Table D3.10 Minimum / maximum school heads’ statutory salaries, based on minimum qualifications (2018)
WEB Table D3.11 Criteria used for base salaries and additional payments awarded to school heads in public institutions, by level of education (2018)
WEB Table D3.12 Decision-making level for criteria used for determining schools heads’ base salaries and additional payments, by level of education (2018)
Cut-off date for the data: 19 July 2019. Any updates on data can be found on line at https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.. More breakdowns can also be found at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
StatLink: https://doi.org/10.1787/888933981229
Table D3.1a. Teachers' statutory salaries, based on the most prevalent qualifications at different points in teachers' careers (2018)
Annual teachers' salaries, in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption
Note: The definition of teachers' most prevalent qualifications is based on a broad concept, including the typical ISCED level of attainment and other criteria. The most prevalent qualification is defined for each of the four stage of the career included in this table. In many cases, the minimum qualification is the same as the most prevalent qualification, see Table X3.D3.2 in Annex 3. Please see Annex 2 and Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. Data on pre-primary teachers includes the salary of kindergarten teachers who are the majority.
2. Includes the average of fixed bonuses for overtime hours for lower and upper secondary teachers.
3. Includes the social security contributions and pension-scheme contributions paid by the employers.
4. Excludes the social security contributions and pension-scheme contributions paid by the employees.
5. At the upper secondary level includes teachers working in vocational programmes. (In Slovenia and Sweden, includes only those teachers teaching general subjects within vocational programmes).
6. Actual base salaries.
Source: OECD (2019). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table D3.2a. Actual salaries of teachers and school heads relative to earnings of tertiary-educated workers (2017)
Ratio of salary, using annual average salaries (including bonuses and allowances) of teachers and school heads in public institutions relative to the wages of workers with similar educational attainment (weighted average) and to the earnings of full-time, full-year workers with tertiary education
Note: See Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
Source: OECD (2019). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table D3.4. Average actual salaries of teachers and school heads, by age group and by gender (2017)
Annual average salaries (including bonuses and allowances) of teachers in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption, by age group and gender
Note: Columns showing average actual teachers' salaries, broken down by age groups (i.e. Columns 5-20), are available on line. See Annex 2 and Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. At the upper secondary level includes teachers working in vocational programmes (in Sweden, includes only those teachers teaching general subjects within vocational programmes).
2. Includes data on the majority, i.e. kindergarten teachers only for pre-primary education.
3. Year of reference 2016.
4. Includes unqualified teachers.
5. Includes salaries of school heads and teachers.
6. Includes all teachers, irrespective of their age.
7. Year of reference 2015.
Source: OECD (2019). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.
Table D3.10. Minimum/maximum school heads' statutory salaries, based on minimum qualifications (2018)
Annual school heads' salaries, in public institutions, in equivalent USD converted using PPPs for private consumption (by level of education)
Note: The definition of school heads' minimum qualifications is based on a broad concept, including the typical ISCED level of attainment and other criteria. Please see Definitions and Methodology sections for more information. Data available at http://stats.oecd.org/, Education at a Glance Database.
1. Includes data on the majority, i.e. kindergarten school heads only for pre-primary education.
2. Includes the social security contributions and pension-scheme contributions paid by the employers.
3. Actual base salaries.
4. Minimum salary refers to the most prevalent qualification (master’s degree) and maximum salary refers to the highest qualification (education specialist or doctoral degree).
Source: OECD (2019). See Source section for more information and Annex 3 for notes (https://doi.org/10.1787/f8d7880d-en.).
Please refer to the Reader's Guide for information concerning symbols for missing data and abbreviations.