EU women earn 16pc less than men

BRUSSELS: Women in the European Union earned an average of 16 percent less than their male peers in 2016, official statistics agency Eurostat said on Wednesday.

"For every euro that a man earned by the hour, a woman made an average of 84 cents," Eurostat said in a press release issued ahead of International Women’s Day Thursday. Worldwide, women earn on average 23 percent less than men. At the current pace it would take 70 years to close the gap, according to the International Labour Organisation.

The gender pay gap in Europe was only slightly better than in the United States, where women are paid 20 percent less than their male peers. Romania, Italy and Luxembourg have better records, with the gap at five percent, while in France women earn 14 percent less than men.