Danish designers earn highest continental pay

Designers in Denmark and Germany make, on average, more money than their counterparts in any other part of continental Europe, according to a new survey published by the Bureau of European Designers’ Associations (BEDA).

The European Fees and Salary Survey, which did not include the UK, also reveals that Belgium and Finland are the hardest countries for designers to find work in.

BEDA mailed 1450 questionnaires, and received 410 replies. “This was quite a low response. We don’t see these figures as definitive. They’re a guide for our members,” says BEDA member and spokesman Hans Robertus.

According to the survey, German freelance designers earn an average of 33 113, with those in staff positions earning 26 527. Danish freelances earn an average of 42 424, while their staff counterparts are paid 36 447.

Freelance Finns, with an average pay of 10 285, and staff designers in Ireland, on an average of 12 252, are the worst paid, according to the survey.

The highest pay levels registered were for freelance designers. “A freelance designer tends to earn more than one who is employed by an agency or company,” states the survey.

Freelance designers in Spain, Germany, Sweden and Ireland are in general better paid than salaried employees, but in Finland, Denmark and The Netherlands the opposite is true.

The survey also reveals that significant numbers of European designers work in neighbouring EU countries.

Design Week’s UK design pay survey is published next week.