The average salary of a full-time employee in Italy dropped more than any other EU country amid the pandemic-induced economic downturn, according to an Italian research institute.

That means that, on average, workers in Italy took home 1,724 euros less in 2020 compared to the year before, marking an overall drop of 5.8 percent in wages.

The EU salary average also declined, but much less steeply, recording a drop of 1.2 percent. The eurozone instead noted a 1.6 percent reduction in earnings.

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The report highlighted Italy’s large number of workers on part-time and short-term contracts and noted how this impacts the country economically.

There are currently around 3 million temporary workers and 2.7 million ‘involuntary’ part-timers, which means those who work part-time not by choice, the data showed.

The percentage of involuntary part-time workers in Italy is the highest at European level, with two-thirds (66.2 percent) of the total number of workers in Italy employed in this way. This is much higher than the eurozone average of 24.7 percent.

Overall, the number of people employed part time in Italy and the number of hours worked is around the European average.

The study pointed out that short-term contracts should, in theory, be a way to fill gaps temporarily but are in many cases often assigned to those with “low qualifications”.

Italian part-time wages are also more than 10 percent lower than the average in the EU.

Even before the economic slump caused by the pandemic, in Italy in 2019, around five million people earned under 10,000 euros gross per year, the study found.

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The institute also calculated what it claims are the ‘true’ figures of unemployment in Italy, which for 2020 stands at 14.5 percent compared to the official figure of 9.2 percent.

That corresponds to almost four million more unemployed people than the recorded 2.3 million, making the number of people out of work in Italy at over six million, according to the research firm’s estimates.

“It is clear that the issue of work concerns the quantity of employment but also many aspects of its quality,” the organisation’s president, Fulvio Fammoni, told reporters.

Referring to the government’s plans for the 2022 Budget, he indicated that the question should be how much these funds solve Italy’s fundamental problems, rather than simply how to use them up.

Their findings also looked at the work market in the previous decade, which revealed that between 2010 and 2019, average earnings in Germany increased by 5,430 euros per year compared to Italy’s decline of 596 euros annually.

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Italy also records some of the longest working hours, while productivity lags behind the EU average – including behind other major economies such as Germany, France and Spain.

Foreign nationals who move to Italy have also reported problems with pay and working conditions, with those moving to Italy less satisfied with their financial situation than in any other country, a 2021 survey found.

A third of foreign residents in Italy said their disposable household income is not enough to cover their expenses.