In the EU, 1 out of 3 managers is a woman: Eurostat

ANKARA (AA) - Women account for 35 percent of all managers in European Union member states, compared to 26 percent in Turkey, but the gender pay gap in Turkey is better than in most EU states, the EU's statistical office Eurostat said Monday.

"Nearly 7.3 million persons hold managerial positions in enterprises with 10 employees or more located in the EU: 4.7 million men and 2.6 million women," it said.

Although representing approximately half of all employed persons in the EU, women continue to be underrepresented among managers, the office underlined.

The largest share of women among managerial positions was seen in Latvia with 53 percent, Eurostat showed, the “only member state where women are a majority in this occupation."

Bulgaria and Poland followed (44 percent each), with Ireland next (43 percent), Estonia (42 percent), and finally Lithuania, Hungary, and Romania (41 percent each).

In Turkey, 102,788 women, or 26 percent, are in managerial position out of a total 401,953, said Eurostat.

"At the opposite end of the scale, women account for less than a quarter of managers in Germany, Italy and [Greek] Cyprus, Belgium and Austria as well as Luxembourg. At EU level, about a third of managers are women," the EU figures said.

- Women earn less than men

Meanwhile, women in managerial positions earn 23.4 percent less than men on average in the EU, according to EU data.

Romania has the narrowest gender pay gap with 5 percent, ahead of Slovenia with 12.4 percent, Belgium 13.6 percent, and Bulgaria 15 percent.

The gender pay gap in managerial positions in Turkey was significantly less than in most EU countries, with 7 percent.

"A female manager earns about a third less than her male counterpart in Hungary (33.7 percent), Italy (33.5 percent) as well as the Czech Republic (29.7 percent), and about a quarter less in Slovakia (28.3 percent), Poland (27.7 percent), Austria (26.9 percent), Germany (26.8 percent), Portugal (25.9 percent), Estonia (25.6 percent), and the United Kingdom (25.1 percent)," it added.

The data, extracted from the four-yearly structure of earnings survey for reference year 2014, was published by Eurostat ahead of this Wednesday, March 8, International Women’s Day.

The number of women and men managers in various countries is as follows: