ECB wage tracker at 2.7% in H1 2027, pointing to a modest uptick in negotiated wage growth

The European Central Bank (ECB) wage tracker, which covers active collective bargaining agreements, indicates negotiated wage pressures with smoothed one-off payments of 2.2% in 2026 (based on a coverage of 46.9% of employees in participating countries). The headline wage tracker indicator stands at 2.7% in the first quarter of 2027 (based on a coverage of 32.5%) and 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 that were initially paid in the second half of 2024 and not repeated in the following year. These effects dissipate fully in the second half of 2026.