ECB Wage Tracker Points to Modest Uptick in Negotiated Wage Growth

The European Central Bank (ECB) has released its wage tracker data for the first half of 2027, showing a modest uptick in negotiated wage growth. The tracker covers active collective bargaining agreements and indicates that negotiated wage pressures have smoothed one-off payments of 2.2% in 2026, based on a coverage of 46.9% of employees in participating countries.

In the first quarter of 2027, the headline wage tracker indicator stands at 2.7%, with a coverage of 32.5%. This increases to 2.8% in the second quarter of 2027, based on a coverage of 25.1%. The lower wage tracker in the first half of 2026 reflects the downward mechanical impact of one-off payments initially paid in the second half of 2024 and not repeated in subsequent periods.