The gender gap in salaries in the EU stood at an average of 16% difference between wages for men and for women in 2013.
This ranged from less than 5% in Slovenia to more than 20% in Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.
In Portugal there was a 13% difference and this represents an increase since 2008 when the difference was 9%.
Since 2008, the gap has narrowed in the majority of EU countries, although there were 9 countries in which the gap widened.
Of these, the most significant increases were in Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
Out of all the workers in the EU countries, nearly half (46%) were women. Nevertheless, women were under-represented among managers, with only a third of working women being managers.
Not surprisingly, women were over-represented among clerical, service and sales staff, accounting for about two-thirds of all employees in these fields.
Part-time work is another potential trap for women, but here Portugal scored well. Out of the 62% of the female population in work, just 14% were working part-time, well below the EU average of 32%. For working men, however, only 8% were part-timers.
Eurostat noted that it was the countries which had the highest levels of women in work which also had a high proportion of part-time work for them. This was the case in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria.
