Salaries in Italy rank among the lowest in the developed world according to a recent report issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Italy ranked 23 out of 30 for average net salaries in all three of the wage categories analysed: single workers, single-income households with two children and double-income households with two children. Average wages were calculated in dollars and adjusted according to the price of living in order to provide a fair basis for comparison.

According to the study, single Italian workers without children take home an average of $21,374 per year compared to an OECD average of $25,751.

Italy came in ahead of Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary and Mexico.

The study placed at least some of the blame on high taxes, estimating that a single worker without children earning an average salary loses nearly 45 per cent of his gross wages to taxes and other deductions. Italy ranks sixth in terms of average taxes paid by salaried workers.

The OECD is a Paris-based organisation of 30 countries that embrace both the principles of democracy and the free market economy. In addition to providing a forum for discourse and trade negotiation, the OECD publishes a number of studies analysing economic indicators of its member countries.