What employed medical writers earn in Europe
European salary benchmarks describe particular survey years and samples. Experience, responsibilities, employer, location and working hours distinguish the reported incomes; benefits form another part of compensation.
Survey populations and income measures
The European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) surveyed 145 employees in 2006 and 320 members in late 2012 and early 2013.
The 2012 survey ran from 5 November 2012 to 8 January 2013; 223 respondents supplied full-time-equivalent income, and two salaries considered implausibly low were excluded from further analysis.
The 2017 survey ran from 7 April to 31 May and combined employees and freelancers in one questionnaire for the first time; of 317 respondents, 266 were evaluable, including 191 employees and 75 freelancers.
Its employee analysis required a non-freelance employer type and job title and an annual salary; respondents supplying both annual and hourly income were assigned by employer type, and missing or inconsistent answers could not be queried because responses were anonymous.
Missing values were not replaced, and pounds were converted at £1 = €1.14237326 on 16 June 2017.
The 2017 questionnaire asked for full-time-equivalent yearly income before tax; the 2021 questionnaire asked for yearly income before tax without that qualification.
In 2017, 16% of employee respondents worked part-time and 41% worked more than 40 hours a week; 58% lived in Germany or the UK.
The 2021 survey collected responses during 29 September–15 October and 4 November–1 December, attracting 400 members, approximately 30% of membership.
The employee analysis included 266 respondents and the freelance analysis 103; employment types reported as small-business owner or hybrid employee–freelancer were excluded from those sets and were too few to analyse separately.
Country comparisons required at least five analysable responses within the relevant analysis set.
The 2021 questionnaire reused many 2017 questions and added hybrid employment and pandemic effects.
Overall income and differences by gender
Reported mean gross annual incomes increased across the four EMWA surveys.
| Survey | Mean (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 54,924 | 50,000 |
| 2012 | 61,505 | 54,000 |
| 2017 | 62,793 | 58,000 |
| 2021 | 67,205 | — |
In 2012, men reported mean income of €68,026 and median €59,750, against €59,218 and €53,057 for women; part-time employees’ full-time-equivalent mean was €58,855 against €62,040 for full-time employees.
The 2017 employee mean had a standard deviation of €28,771 and a range of €16,000–210,000; 40 men averaged €63,755 and 148 women €61,305, a difference that was not statistically significant.
Reported male salary advantages were 28% in 2006, 15% in 2012 and 4% in 2017; the 2017 interpretation was that sex differences in employee pay appeared to be disappearing.
Experience, job titles and responsibilities
The 2012 full-time gross incomes by experience were as follows (221 respondents; SD means standard deviation).
| Experience (years) | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <2 | 26 (12) | 41,267 | 21,577 | 35,483 |
| 2–5 | 52 (24) | 51,381 | 23,555 | 44,000 |
| 6–10 | 68 (31) | 63,236 | 25,126 | 55,038 |
| 11–15 | 36 (16) | 68,131 | 22,481 | 71,282 |
| >15 | 39 (18) | 79,363 | 55,090 | 70,000 |
The 2012 breakdown by seniority and supervisory duties included 220 respondents.
| Level and responsibility | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level | 27 (12) | 37,962 | 11,712 | 37,762 |
| Middle, no supervision | 67 (30) | 50,563 | 19,270 | 46,620 |
| Middle, supervision | 30 (14) | 62,560 | 27,570 | 55,600 |
| Senior, no supervision | 60 (27) | 68,329 | 27,031 | 65,995 |
| Senior, supervision | 36 (16) | 87,751 | 53,802 | 78,419 |
Senior writers with supervisory duties earned more than twice the entry-level mean; variability increased alongside average income.
The 2017 experience breakdown reported gross annual income for the 191-employee analysis set.
| Experience (years) | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤2 | 53 (28) | 45,376 | 19,080 | 42,000 | 16,000–145,000 |
| >2–5 | 49 (26) | 60,145 | 25,334 | 53,500 | 25,000–156,000 |
| >5–10 | 43 (23) | 61,288 | 18,065 | 61,250 | 26,000–110,000 |
| >10–15 | 31 (16) | 88,673 | 35,063 | 70,500 | 55,000–210,000 |
| >15 | 15 (8) | 83,810 | 30,520 | 72,000 | 44,000–150,000 |
The 2017 job-title breakdown used the same employee analysis set.
| Job title | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associate medical writer | 11 (6) | 36,987 | 11,454 | 35,358 | 16,000–65,000 |
| Junior medical writer | 33 (17) | 43,637 | 12,115 | 42,000 | 27,000–78,000 |
| Senior medical writer | 60 (31) | 62,619 | 21,448 | 60,000 | 26,000–156,000 |
| Principal medical writer | 17 (9) | 70,973 | 28,670 | 60,643 | 43,200–145,000 |
| Medical writing manager | 22 (12) | 83,168 | 30,931 | 79,500 | 30,000–154,000 |
| Department head | 10 (5) | 109,050 | 47,006 | 101,250 | 58,000–210,000 |
| Communication specialist | 4 (2) | 53,000 | 18,129 | 49,500 | 35,000–78,000 |
| Medical writing scientist | 10 (5) | 53,497 | 16,214 | 54,500 | 25,000–82,450 |
| Other | 23 (12) | 63,287 | 26,351 | 60,000 | 28,559–130,000 |
In 2017, employees with supervisory duties averaged €69,045 against €52,459 without them, and those with line-management duties €79,224 against €58,161 without them.
The 2021 experience breakdown included 264 employees.
| Experience (years) | n (%) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≤2 | 54 (20) | 49,000 | 3,600–87,000 |
| 3–5 | 77 (29) | 49,000 | 2,200–126,000 |
| 6–10 | 52 (20) | 49,000 | 5,000–118,000 |
| 11–15 | 36 (14) | 69,500 | 20,000–186,000 |
| >15 | 45 (17) | 90,000 | 39,000–220,000 |
The 2021 job-title breakdown was reported for the 266-employee analysis set.
| Job title | n (%) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior medical writer | 45 (17) | 55,000 | 2,200–91,000 |
| Associate medical writer | 21 (8) | 41,500 | 3,600–79,663 |
| Senior medical writer | 81 (30) | 55,000 | 3,600–190,000 |
| Principal medical writer | 31 (12) | 77,000 | 3,840–145,000 |
| Publishing specialist | 2 (1) | 47,000 | 39,000–55,000 |
| Medical writing manager | 34 (13) | 68,000 | 5,000–105,000 |
| Communication lead/head of medical writing | 19 (7) | 84,365 | 55,000–172,000 |
| Director/owner of medical writing company | 7 (3) | 186,000 | 150,000–220,000 |
The 2021 responsibility breakdown distinguished project management without line management, mentoring and line management.
| Responsibility | Answer | n (%) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project management | Yes | 178 (67) | 55,000 | 3,600–186,000 |
| Project management | No | 86 (33) | 43,000 | 2,200–220,000 |
| Project management | Missing | 2 | — | — |
| Mentoring | Yes | 128 (48) | 63,000 | 2,200–220,000 |
| Mentoring | No | 136 (52) | 46,000 | 3,600–172,000 |
| Mentoring | Missing | 2 | — | — |
| Line management | Yes | 56 (21) | 98,800 | 44,000–220,000 |
| Line management | No | 210 (79) | 49,500 | 2,200–172,000 |
Employer and document type
The 2012 employer breakdown included 214 respondents.
| Employer | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic | 4 (2) | 50,348 | 13,965 | 46,183 |
| Communications agency | 21 (10) | 59,208 | 23,457 | 57,000 |
| Medical writing services company | 41 (19) | 59,930 | 55,333 | 43,000 |
| Contract research organisation | 66 (31) | 52,626 | 17,564 | 48,000 |
| Pharmaceutical or biotech company | 69 (32) | 70,753 | 25,622 | 67,560 |
| Other | 13 (6) | 73,372 | 41,238 | 72,000 |
The 2012 “other” category comprised nine self-employed respondents and one each in pricing, reimbursement and market access, medtech, publishing and a non-profit organisation.
The 2017 employer breakdown reported gross annual incomes for the 191-employee analysis set.
| Employer | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceutical company | 59 (31) | 82,600 | 35,456 | 73,000 | 28,559–210,000 |
| Communications/advertising agency | 10 (5) | 57,918 | 16,933 | 54,000 | 38,000–82,500 |
| Contract research organisation | 59 (31) | 56,488 | 22,993 | 49,000 | 25,000–145,000 |
| Biotech company | 7 (4) | 49,197 | 20,072 | 42,000 | 16,000–70,000 |
| Medical writing company | 41 (21) | 48,902 | 15,356 | 46,000 | 30,000–115,000 |
| Other | 15 (8) | 57,243 | 16,622 | 58,300 | 34,000–89,000 |
The 2017 “other” employers included research and consulting, medical devices, public-sector and government organisations, health technology assessment, medical communications and education, health services, charitable organisations and combined employment and freelancing.
In 2017, companies with more than 500 employees averaged €70,136 against €54,732 for smaller employers; further analysis located the higher incomes among writers with more than ten years’ experience.
For employees spending at least half their working time on one document type, mean salaries were €78,389 for submission dossiers (19 respondents), €59,406 for clinical and nonclinical development documents (64) and €48,897 for scientific articles (28).
In 2021, median incomes were €80,000 in biotech companies, €76,700 in pharmaceutical companies, €55,000 in contract research organisations, €54,000 in medical device companies, €52,500 in academic institutions, government agencies and non-profits, and €48,000 in medical communications, advertising agencies and consultancies.
Country and region
The 2012 country breakdown included 216 respondents, including some based outside Europe.
| Country | n | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 3 | 46,800 | 14,058 | 39,600 |
| Australia | 3 | 90,188 | 15,621 | 92,764 |
| Belgium | 13 | 51,927 | 14,679 | 43,200 |
| Denmark | 7 | 90,870 | 18,572 | 93,291 |
| France | 15 | 71,385 | 79,684 | 54,000 |
| Germany | 57 | 66,979 | 26,021 | 65,000 |
| Italy | 4 | 38,111 | 21,829 | 30,822 |
| Netherlands | 6 | 50,450 | 15,492 | 47,600 |
| Spain | 8 | 60,250 | 39,329 | 48,500 |
| Sweden | 4 | 62,924 | 11,719 | 65,997 |
| Switzerland | 11 | 111,578 | 17,971 | 112,206 |
| UK | 76 | 49,086 | 19,066 | 44,289 |
| USA | 3 | 84,429 | 23,375 | 71,307 |
| Other: India, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Singapore | 6 | 37,521 | 23,366 | 30,967 |
The 2017 country and regional breakdown used the employee analysis set of 191.
| Country or region | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 12 (6) | 122,417 | 40,673 | 120,000 | 60,000–210,000 |
| Scandinavia | 10 (5) | 74,286 | 19,202 | 72,000 | 47,412–110,000 |
| Germany | 54 (28) | 67,701 | 22,718 | 63,250 | 38,000–130,000 |
| Italy | 5 (3) | 54,800 | 15,401 | 54,000 | 40,000–78,000 |
| UK | 57 (30) | 53,568 | 22,409 | 47,000 | 26,000–150,000 |
| Belgium | 6 (3) | 52,742 | 14,058 | 49,150 | 40,000–70,000 |
| Spain | 6 (3) | 48,500 | 20,869 | 40,500 | 30,000–85,000 |
| France | 20 (11) | 48,247 | 11,587 | 46,000 | 29,000–82,500 |
| Austria | 6 (3) | 47,397 | 13,603 | 41,000 | 35,000–70,000 |
| Other | 15 (8) | 62,767 | 32,463 | 64,000 | 16,000–145,000 |
Scandinavia grouped Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
In 2021, the highest reported country medians were Switzerland (€138,000), France (€69,500) and Sweden (€61,220), and the lowest were Spain (€31,000) and Portugal (€33,600).
For those countries in that order, the text gave counts of 26, 27, 16, 16 and 12, whereas the employee-income figure labels gave 19, 16, 12, 7 and 6.
Education and language
The 2012 degree comparison included 221 respondents.
| Highest degree | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced: MD, PhD or equivalent | 156 (71) | 62,394 | 34,728 | 55,000 |
| Master’s or equivalent | 30 (14) | 59,104 | 32,054 | 53,000 |
| Bachelor’s or equivalent | 35 (16) | 59,601 | 28,849 | 49,500 |
By subject background in 2012, humanities graduates averaged €53,383, biological-science graduates €60,318 and healthcare graduates €67,004; only nine respondents had a humanities background, precluding firm conclusions.
The 2012 native-language comparison, regardless of document language, included 220 respondents.
| Native language | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 113 (51) | 60,286 | 29,277 | 49,534 |
| Non-English | 107 (49) | 62,684 | 37,492 | 55,200 |
The 2012 comparison by predominant document language included 220 respondents.
| Document language | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not written in native language | 100 (45) | 62,586 | 38,183 | 55,600 |
| Written in native language | 120 (55) | 60,800 | 29,044 | 50,816 |
Among the 175 respondents writing 76–100% of documents in English, the 2012 comparison was as follows.
| Native language | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 91 (52) | 60,119 | 28,438 | 52,448 |
| Non-English | 84 (48) | 64,811 | 40,428 | 58,550 |
Mean income differed little across these language comparisons.
In 2017, employees with an advanced degree averaged €66,265 against €55,334 for a master’s and €55,544 for a bachelor’s degree.
Working hours and arrangements
The 2017 employee incomes by working week were reported as follows.
| Hours per week | n (%) | Mean (€) | SD (€) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–20 | 2 (1) | 71,000 | 1,414 | 71,000 | 70,000–72,000 |
| 21–30 | 15 (8) | 61,615 | 19,465 | 63,000 | 26,000–95,000 |
| 31–35 | 17 (9) | 55,605 | 22,038 | 46,400 | 29,000–110,000 |
| 36–40 | 78 (41) | 55,051 | 22,486 | 48,500 | 27,000–156,000 |
| 41–50 | 69 (36) | 68,595 | 34,136 | 60,000 | 16,000–210,000 |
| >50 | 10 (5) | 95,480 | 28,491 | 90,000 | 58,300–150,000 |
The 2017 summary gave means of €59,162 for 35 hours or fewer and €63,579 for more than 35 hours.
The 2021 working-arrangement comparison included 261 employees.
| Arrangement | n (%) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home-based | 86 (33) | 50,000 | 24,000–101,000 |
| Home-based with some office days | 68 (26) | 58,500 | 28,000–220,000 |
| Office-based with some home days | 97 (37) | 51,500 | 2,200–126,000 |
| Office-based | 10 (4) | 43,800 | 14,000–150,000 |
The 2021 working-hours comparison included 260 employees.
| Hours per week | n (%) | Median (€) | Range (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11–20 | 2 (1) | 39,500 | 24,000–55,000 |
| 21–30 | 26 (10) | 46,000 | 3,840–90,000 |
| 31–40 | 149 (57) | 49,000 | 3,600–120,000 |
| 41–50 | 75 (29) | 73,000 | 2,200–172,000 |
| >50 | 8 (3) | 186,000 | 101,000–220,000 |
A company-level example
In an undated account from a France-based medical-writing company with 16 staff, its owner estimated starting gross salaries at about €38,000–40,000 and salaries for the most experienced writers, with up to eight years’ experience, at roughly €56,000.
The owner knew of Swiss salaries around €120,000 and considered country, town and experience important to differences in pay.
A pharmaceutical and device comparison
A survey open from 8 to 14 March 2016 drew 112 responses, approximately two-thirds from Europe and one-third from the USA, and asked about expected annual earnings before tax and deductions.
In the UK, pharmaceutical writers averaged £40,000 (32 respondents; range £24,000–95,000), against one device writer reporting £50,000; in the EU excluding the UK, the means were €42,000 for four pharmaceutical respondents (range €24,000–60,000) and €62,000 for six device respondents (range €36,000–130,000).
In Switzerland, two pharmaceutical respondents averaged CHF 167,000 (range CHF 165,000–170,000), against CHF 129,000 for one device respondent.
These small samples suggested that European device writers might be better remunerated than pharmaceutical writers; UK salaries were approximately half US salaries at the March 2016 exchange rate.
The European sample might not represent continental salaries, and the transatlantic difference could not be explained by the available evidence; living costs, selection bias and job differences remained possible explanations.
Benefits alongside salary
In the 2016 pharmaceutical and device survey, 94 respondents reported benefits.
Health insurance was received by 63% of pharmaceutical and 82% of device writers, pension or retirement plans by 92% and 68%, childcare or nursery placement by 14% and 32%, canteen or food vouchers by 8% and 32%, and gym membership by 27% and 54%.
Other benefits included bonuses or profit sharing, life insurance, a bicycle or travel assistance, relocation assistance, and free fruit and soda.
Benefits were broadly similar in Europe and the USA, except that health insurance and gym membership were reported by 55% and 15% of European writers against 95% and 58% in the USA.
Interpreting differences over time
The 2012 survey supported descriptive comparisons rather than firm conclusions about influencing factors: apart from satisfaction analyses, no statistical comparisons were made, several country groups contained only three or four respondents, and cost of living and purchasing power were not considered.
Respondents were volunteers from EMWA rather than a random sample of all writers, and questionnaire changes limited comparisons with 2006.
Those changes included age and language questions, revised education, employer, job-title and activity categories, and a ten-point satisfaction scale.
The 2012 interpretation was that income appeared to depend more on professional skills and experience than formal requirements or language and might increase as writers gained experience and expanded their skills.
Compared with 2006, 2012 mean incomes increased for middle-level writers and senior writers without supervision but changed little for entry-level writers and senior writers with management duties.
The 2012 authors interpreted higher overall means as possible evidence of employers recognising and investing in professional writing, while wide variability suggested a developing market.
The smaller rise between 2012 and 2017 than between 2006 and 2012 was attributed to differences in inflation and living costs, membership and respondent characteristics, companies’ working models and wider social and political changes.
For the higher 2017 salaries among writers with more than ten years’ experience, two proposed explanations were greater demand for experienced writers and an earlier, more favourable starting-pay environment.
The second explanation drew on German wage-share data: pharmaceutical employee compensation as a percentage of gross value added declined from the early 1990s, more than in the total economy, and reached a trough about nine years before the report.
Comparable data were unavailable from the other main European statistical offices, so this was a proposed contributor rather than an established explanation across Europe.
The 2017 sample also had small groups and possible participation bias: high earners might be less willing to share financial information, while new writers might not belong to EMWA or feel qualified to respond.
For 2021, it remained unclear whether the higher mean reflected inflation, increased job value or other unknown factors.