Pay gap narrows for women executives at German listed firms

Women on the executive boards of Germany's leading listed companies saw their pay rise in 2025, bringing their average earnings almost level with those of their male colleagues, according to a study by consultancy EY.

Female board members at companies listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX indices, excluding chief executives, earned an average of €2.20 million ($2.45 million) last year, up 2.4% from 2024.

Their male counterparts earned €2.23 million, down nearly 2%, narrowing the pay gap from €121,000 to just €26,000, according to the study obtained by dpa.

EY also found a record 101 women serving on executive boards throughout 2025, up from 88 a year earlier and just 33 in 2013. Women now account for more than a quarter of the board members surveyed.

"Women on executive boards are no longer the exception. That is also reflected in salaries," said EY partner Jens Massmann.

He said pay increasingly depended on responsibilities, experience and company size rather than gender.

Pay gaps vary across indices

At DAX companies, women's average pay rose by more than 4% to €3.04 million, while men's fell 1.4% to €3.33 million. The gap narrowed from €455,000 to €284,000.

But the gap widened in the smaller MDAX and SDAX indices, to €295,000 and €155,000 respectively, even as women's pay rose in both.

Women earned €1.59 million in the MDAX against €1.89 million for men, and €1.07 million in the SDAX against €1.22 million for men.

Massmann attributed the difference partly to newer female appointees starting on lower salaries, saying he expected the gap to narrow over time.