The financial crisis has had a devastating effect on the economy of Spanish households. Almost no one has been spared, not even those with the highest incomes. 

Since 2007, when the crisis begun, the number of taxpayers with incomes above €600,000 per year has reduced by half, and in 2010, the number dropped by 24 percent, according to a report published on Monday by the Spanish Tax Agency. 

When the crisis begun, 10,580 people reported yearly incomes over €600,000 to the Spanish tax authorities. Three years later, there were only 5,189 people, which is the lowest number since 2006 and clearly shows the effects of the crisis.

Crisis affects all income groups

All the income groups have been affected by the difficult economic situation. The number of taxpayers in the group with the second highest incomes, between €150,000 and €600,000, decreased from 96,477 to 67,744, while those with incomes between €60,000 and €150,000 decreased from 640,238 to 619,635.

The only group of where the number of people is growing, is for those with negative or no income, which increased by 60 percent, which gives an idea of the intensity of the austerity measures introduced by the Spanish government.

The drop for those who earn most is also due to the fact that large amounts of these incomes are generated from financial investments, such as stocks and dividends, which have a larger impact among the high-income groups than among the low-income groups.

According to the Spanish Tax Agency, the largest group of taxpayers – 27 percent – earn between €12,000 and €21,000 per year. About 20 percent earn between €6,000 and €12,000.

Monthly average of €1,376

The average income is €19,265, before tax reductions, which means a monthly salary of €1,376. However, there is a great difference between those of Spanish nationality and foreigners: the average among Spaniards is €22,826, while it is €16,319 among the other group.

No less than 65 percent have incomes below €21,000 per year. 

The fact that the highest incomes have dropped, however, does not mean that there has been a convergence of salaries, but the opposite has occurred. In 2007, when the crisis begun, the number of people with incomes that were higher than ten times the minimum salary equaled 7.1 times the average salary, while in 2010 it has increased to 7.4.