A total of 15 Belgian bankers earned more than €1 million in 2023. Three even took home more than €3 million. This marks a slight drop compared to the previous year.
In Belgium, 12 bankers earned between €1 million and €2 million in 2023, L'Echo reported, based on figures from the European Banking Authority (EBA) collected directly from banks. Three were paid between €3 and €4 million. The average income of the 15 most high-earning bankers comes to €1.9 million.
The number fell slightly compared to 2022 when 17 people were included in this group. In addition, seven employees of investment firms also exceeded €1 million in annual salary, compared with nine in the previous year. This indicates that, following the post-pandemic boom in income for this type of banker, the trend is stabilising.
While the EBA's data is anonymous, some of the profiles can be identified based on banks' annual reports. For example, the CEOs of the three largest banks belong to this group. Johan Thijs of KBC earned €3.6 million in 2023, Marc Raisière of Belfius €1.3 million and Michael Anseeuw of BNP Paribas Fortis €1.4 million.
Because ING Belgium did not disclose the salary of CEO Peter Adams, it could not be confirmed whether he was included in the group.
Few high-earning women
The gender gap is glaring. Only three women are part of the group. Of the trio, there is one woman part of the group who earned between €3 and €4 million. The seven employees of investment firms were all men.
Compared to other European countries, Belgium is home to a relatively low number of high earners. The regulator counted 2,343 bankers earning over €1 million in 2023, a similar figure to that of the previous year. Most are located in Germany (589), France (520), Italy (354) and Spain (253).
At the European level too, there is a stark gender imbalance: only 10.7% of high earners are women.
